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COMMON  SENSE 
IN  CHESS 


BY 

EMANUEL    LASKER 


New  York  : 

J.  S.  OGILVIE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 

57  Rose  Street. 


I  ^  !  0  f :/ 


/f/o 


(j<:^t^2i^.^r^y^^ 


PREFACE. 


The  following  is  an  abstract  of  Twelve  Lectures 
given  before  an  audience  of  London  chess  players 
during  the  spring  of  1 895.  It  may  be  regarded  as 
an  attempt  to  deal  with  all  parts  of  a  game  of  chess 
by  the  aid  of  general  principles.  The  principles  laid 
down  are  deduced  from  considerations  concerning 
the  nature  of  Chess  as  a  fight  between  two  brains, 
and  their  conception  is  based  on  simple  facts.  Their 
practical  working  has  been  illustrated  by  positions 
adapted  to  the  purpose,  and  likely  to  occur  over 
the  board. 

It  has  been  my  aim  to  reduce  the  different  rules 
innumberasmuch  as  wascompatible  with  clearness. 
They  all,  it  will  be  found,  have  a  remote  likeness, 
and  it  would  therefore  not  have  been  very  difficult 
to  reduce  their  number  still  more.  Indeed  they 
may  ultimately  be  united  in  one  single  leading 
principle,  which  is  the  germ  of  the  theory  not  only 
of  Chess,  but  of  any  kind  of  fight.  This  principle 
is  sufficiently  indicated  here,  but  it  is  so  general  in 
its  conception,  and  the  difficulty  of  expressing  the 
whole  compass  of  its  meaning  in  definite  terms  so 
enormous,  that  I  have  not  ventured  to  formulate  it. 
In  a  future  work,  for  which  the  present  one  shall 


ivi97496 


8 

pave  the  way,  I  hope  to  be  able  to  illustrate  the 
significance  of  that  principle,  and  its  capacity  for 
showing  facts  in  their  right  relation  to  one  another. 
For  that  work  I  have  also  deferred  the  discussion  of 
some  points  which  require  very  nice  differentiation, 
such  as  all  questions  relating  to  the  manoeuvring 
of  the  King  and  the  exchange  of  men. 

The  games  and  positions  given  in  this  book  are 
comparatively  few, but  they  have  been  selected  with 
care.  I  therefore  would  advise  the  student  not  to 
attempt  to  read  ihQ  matter  only,  but  to  study  it 
and  sink  some  work  into  it.  The  rules  deduced 
are,  I  believe,  very  plausible.  This  need  not  deceive 
the  student,  who  will  see  their  significance  in  a 
clearer  light  if  he  tries  to  be  reasonably  sceptical 
and  exacting  in  the  matter  of  proofs. 

As  regards  the  analytical  notes  about  games  or 
openings,  I  have  tried  to  be  short  and  to  the  point. 
Analytical  detail  is  therefore  not  abundant,  but 
I  think,  reliable.  The  method  of  enumerating  all 
the  variitions  thought  possible,  or  probable,  has 
been  laid  aside,  and  in  its  place  an  analysis  has  been 
given,  which  makes  use  of  both  the  consideration 
of  the  leading  variations  and  general  principles. 
The  diction  and  style  of  the  work  are  those  of  a 
lecturer.  Feeling  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  make 
them  as  perfect  as  I  should  have  desired,  I  must 
ask  for  the  lenient  judgment  of  the  reader. 

I  take  this  opportunity  for  expressing  my  hearty 
thanks  to  Professor  Villin  Marmery  for  his  kind 
assistance  in  looking  over  the  proofs. 

Emanuel  Lasker. 


,«^ 


Common  ^ense  m  Cfjessi. 

No.  1. 

Gentlemen, — It  is  customary  to  begin  with 
definitions,  but  I  am  sure  that  all  of  you  are  so  well 
acquainted  with  the  essential  parts  of  the  history, 
the  rules  and  the  characteristics  of  Chess,  that  you 
will  allow  me  to  jump  at  once  in  medias  res.  Chess 
has  been  represented, or  shall  I  say  misrepresented, 
as  a  game — that  is,  a  thing  which  could  not  well 
serve  a  serious  purpose,  solely  created  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  an  empty  hour.  If  it  were  a  game  only,  Chess 
would  never  have  survived  the  serious  trials  to 
which  it  has,  during  the  long  time  of  its  existence, 
been  often  subjected.  By  some  ardent  enthusiasts 
Chess  has  been  elevated  into  a  science  or  an  art.  It 
is  neither ;  but  its  principal  characteristic  seems  to 
be — what  human  nature  mostly  delights  in — a  fight. 
Not  a  fight,  indeed, such  as  would  tickle  the  nerves 
of  coarser  natures,  where  blood  flows  and  the  blows 
delivered  leave  their  visible  traces  on  the  bodies  of 
the  combatants,  but  a  fight  in  which  the  scientific, 
the  artistic,  the  purely  intellectual  element  holds 
undivided  sway.  From  this  standpoint,  a  game  of 
Chess  becomes  a  harmonious  whole,  the  outlines  of 
which  I  wall  endeavor  to  describe  to  you  in  this 
course  of  lectures. 

The  requisites  in  Chess  are  a  board  of  sixty-four 
squares,  and  two  bodies  of  men.  We  have,  there- 
fore, one  great  advantage  over  the  general  who  is 
to  lead  an  army  into  the  field — we  know  where  to 
find  the  enemy,  and  the  strength  at  his  disposal. 


,10 

We  have  the  gratifying^ knowledge  that  as  far  as 
material  strength  is  concerned  we  shall  be  equal  to 
our  opponents.  Nevertheless,  our  first  step  will  be 
exactly  analogous  to  that  of  a  commander  of  an 
army.  First  of  all  we  shall  mobilize  our  troops, 
make  them  ready  for  action,  try  to  seize  the  impor- 
tant lines  and  points  which  are  yet  wholly  unoccu- 
pied. This  proceeding  will  take,  as  a  rule,  no  more 
than  six  moves,  as  we  shall  see  later  on.  If  we 
should  neglect  to  do  so,  our  opponent  would  avail 
himself  of  the  opportunity  thus  given  him,  would 
quickly  assail  some  vital  point,  and  ere  we  could 
rally,  the  battle  would  be  finished. 

Let  me,  in  illustration  of  my  assertions,  go  over 
some  well  known  little  games,  in  which  mistake 
and  the  punishment  thereof  are  clearly  traceable. 

White.  Black. 

1.  P— K4  P— K4: 

2.  Kt— KB3  P— Q3 

3.  B— B4  P— KR3 

So  far,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  move,  Black 
has  played  quite  well.  He  has  opened  lines  for  his 
two  Bishops  and  the  Queen,  and  now  should  bring 
out  his  QKt  to  B3.  Instead  of  that,  afraid  of  some 
premature  attack,  he  quite  unnecessarily  makes  a 
move  that  does  not  give  additional  force  to  any  of 
his  pieces. 

4.  Kt— QB3  ^B— Kt5 

A  mistake.  The  Knights  should  be  first  devel- 
oped, then  the  Bishops. 


11  ; 


5.  Kt  X  P  B  X  Q 

6.  BxPch  K  — K2 

7.  Kt  —  Q  5  checkmate 

Another  tune  to  the  same  song. 

White.  Black. 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt— KB3  Kt— KB3 

3.  KtxP  Kt— QB3 

Black  evidently  believes  in  the  principle  of  quick 
development,  and  even  neglects  to  take  White's 
KP,  in  order  to  gain  time. 


4. 

KtxKt 

QPxKt 

5. 

P-Q3 

B— QB4 

6. 

B— Kt5 

A  mistake ;  he  ought  to  guard  against  the  threat- 
ened Kt — Kt5  with  B — K2.  Now  he  is  overtaken 
by  a  catastrophe. 

6 KtxP 

7.  BxQ  •     BxPch 

8.  K— K2  B—Kt5  checkmate 

Another  variation. 

White.  Bi.ack. 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  P— KB4  PxP 

White,  in  order  to  aid  his  development,  sacrifices 
a  Pawn,  Whether  with  good  reason  or  not,  we 
shall  not  argue  for  the  present. 


12 


3.  B— B4  Q— R5ch 

4.  K— B  P— Q4 

An  excellent  move.  Black  also  sacrifices  a  Pawn, 
to  invest  it,  so  to  say,  in  facilities  for  bringing  out 
his  pieces. 


5. 

BxP 

P— KKt4 

6. 

Kt— KB3 

Q-T-R4 

7. 

P— KR4 

A  good  move,  which  gives  our  Rook  something  to 
do.  The  attack  on  Black's  Pawn,  liowever,  is  only 
an  apparent  one  for  the  moment,  because  both  the 
Kt  and  KRP  are  pinned. 

7 P^KR3 


He  ought  to  develop  a  piece,  for  instance  B — Kt2. 
This  omission  will  cost  him  the  game. 

8.  BxPch  QxB 
Not  KXB,  on  account  of  (9)  Kt— K5ch. 

9.  Kt— K5  Q— Kt2 

10.  Q— R5ch  K— K2 

11.  Kt— Kt6ch  K— Q 

12.  KtxR  QxKt 

13.  PxP 

And  now  we  have  two  Pawns  and  an  excellently 
placed  Rook  for  two  pieces,  while  Black's  pieces  are 
all  still  at  home,  and  his  King  in  an  unsafe  position. 
Between  fairly  even  players  the  issue  of  the  game 
is  therefore  decided  in  favor  of  White. 


13 

lyct  me  go  over  the  moves  which  frequently 
occur  in  games  of  a  close  character. 

White.  Black. 

1.  P— K4  P— K3 

2.  P— Q4  P— Q4 

3.  Kt— QB3  Kt— KB3 

4.  B— KKt5  B—K2 

He  ought  to  first  exchange  the  Pawns,  and  then 
bring  his  Bishop  to  K2.  In  such  manner  he  would 
obtain  an  almost  unassailable  position. 

5.  BxKt.  BxB 

6.  Kt— KB3  Castles 

There  is  no  necessity  for  him  to  castle  so  early. 
His  first  aim  should  be  to  bring  his  Q  side  into 
action.  For  instance:  (6)  ....  PxP;  (7)  KtxP, 
Kt— Q2;  (8)  B— Q3,  P— QKt3;  (9)  Castles,  B— 
Kt2,  would  be,  although  not  the  very  best,  a 
sufficiently  safe  plan  for  bringing  his  pieces  out. 


7. 

B-Q3 

P— QKt3 

8. 

P— K5 

B     K2 

9. 

P— KR4 

White  consistently  takes  aim  against  Black's  K' 
side.  Black's  Q  side  pieces  have  so  little  bearing 
upon  the  actual  scene  of  battle  that  his  game  is 
already  greatly  compromised. 

9 B— Kt2 

The  only  comparatively  safe  move  would  have 
been  B— QR3. 


14 
Black. 


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White. 

10.  BxPch  KxB 

11.  Kt— Kt5ch  K— Kt3 

If  instead  K— Kt  sq.;  (12)  Q— R5,  BxKt;  (13) 
PXB,  P— B3;  (14)  P— Kt6,  and  mate  cannot  be 
avoided. 

12.  Kt— K2  BxKt 

13.  PxB  P— B4 

If  QXP;  (14)  Kt— B4ch.,K— B4;  (15)Q— Q3ch., 
K— Kt5;  (16)  Q— R3ch.,  KxKt;  (17)  Q— B3 
mate. 


Id 

By  the  same  process,  through  which  your  oppo- 
nent has  achieved  greater  scope  for  his  pieces,  you 
will  then  always  be  able  to  recoup  yourself,  and, 
as  a  rule,  be  a  gainer  in  the  bargain. 

I  am  speaking  rather  authoritatively  in  this 
matter,  as  I  cannot  prove  my  assertions  for  the 
moment.  However,  I  do  not  ask  you  to  believe 
me  blindly.  In  the  course  of  this  lecture,  and  in 
those  that  are  to  follow,  enough,  I  trust,  will  be 
found  to  warrant  what  I  said.  This  principle  is 
the  one  amendment  which  I  wish  to  add  to  the 
four  rules  given  in  the  last  Lecture, 


KtxP 


This  move  exposes  Black  to  some  danger,  and 
I  •  do  not  think  it  would  be  right  of  me  to  show 
you  only  how  Black  gets  out  of  it  with  flying 
colors.  We  shall  come  to  a  fuller  understanding 
of  the  possibilities  of  the  position  when  we,  in  some 
variations,  let  Black  pay  the  penalty  for  his  daring. 

5.  R— Ksq 

Not  the  best  move,  but  one  that  most  naturally 
suggests  itself. 

5 Kt— Q3 

To  gain  time  by  the  attack  on  the  White  Bishop. 

6.  Kt— QB3  KtxB 

7.  KtxP 

Cunning  play.     If  Black  now  takes  one  of  the 
Knights  he  loses,  e.g.^ 


A      7 KKtxKt 

8.  KtxKtch  B--K2 

9.  KtxB !  KtxQ 

10.  Kt— Kt6ch         Q— K2 

11.  KtxQ  and  remains  a  piece  ahead 

B      7 QKtxKt 

8.  RxKtch  B— K2 

9.  Kt— Q5  !  Castles 

10.  KtxBch  K— Rsq 

Now  see  White's  mode  of  attack,  which  is  rather 
instructive  and  of  frequent  occurrence. 

11.  Q— R5  P— KKt3 
White  threatened  mate  in  two  by  QxPch,  etc. 

12.  Q— R6  P— Q3 
White  mates  in  two.     Which  is  the  move? 

13.  R— R5  PxR 

14.  Q— B6  checkmate 

Let  us  now  return  to  the  original  position,  at 
Black's  seventh  turn  to  move. 

7 B— K2 

We  thus  intercept  the  dangerous  file  against  our 
King  and  develop  a  piece — two  great  advantages. 

8.  Kt— Q5  Castles 

9.  KtxKt  QPxKt 

10.  KtxBch  K— R 

11.  KtxB  QxKt 

12.  P— Q3  Q— B4 

13.  B— K3  P— KR3 


21 

And  Black's  game  is,  if  anything,  preferable.  You 
see  how  quickly  Whitens  attack  has  spent  itself  out. 
But  then  he  did  not  make  the  best  of  his  position 
at  move  5.    Let  us  therefore  return  to  that  point. 

6.    P-Q4 

We  develop  and  attack  at  the  same  time,  while 

our  Pawn  cannot  be  taken,  viz  :   (5) PxP, 

(6)  R— K,  (6)  P— KB4,  (7)  KtxP,  threatening 
P — KB  3,  and  should  win. 


B— K2 


Kt — Q3  instead  leads  to  an  early  exchange  of 
Queens.   The  resulting  position  is  rather  somewhat 

in  favor  of  White,  viz.:— (5) Kt— Q3  ;   (6) 

BxKt,  QPxB;  (7)PxP,  Kt— B4;  (8)  QxQch, 
KxQ;  (9)  R— Qch,  K— K ;  (10)  Kt— QB3. 
B— K2  :  (11)  P— KR3,  B— KB  ;  (12)  B— KKt5 
with  an  occasional  onslaught  of  the  K  side  Pawns. 

6.  Q— K2 

The  last  move  is  more  aggressive  than  PxP  at 
once,  which  would  allow  Black  time  to  do  anything 
he  pleases,  for  instance  to  castle  at  once,  or  to  ad- 
vance P — Q4.  Consider  the  following  variation  as 
an  example  of  what  is  likely  to  follow  after  :  (6) 
PxP,  P— Q4;  (7)  PxP  e.p.,  KtxP  ;  (8)  Bx 
Ktch.,  PxB;  (9)  Kt— K5,  B— Kt2,  and  in  spite 
of  his  double  Pawn  Black's  pieces  are  excellently 
placed. 

6 Kt— Q3 

7.  BxKt  KtPxB 


22 


not  QPxB,  which  would  open  the  Q  file  to  White's 

Rook,  e.g.,  (7) ,  QPxB;  (8)  PxP,  Kt— B4; 

(9)  R~Q,  B--Q2. 

The  Black  QB  and  Q  are  now  so  badly  placed 
that  White  has  an  opportunity  of  bringing  the 
game  to  a  virtual  finish  by  energetic  attack.  (10) 
P— K6,  PxP;  (11)  Kt— K5,  threatening  both  the 
Bishop  and  Q — R5ch. ,  and  should  therefore  win. 

8.     PxP       Kt— Kt2 
Black. 


White, 


We  have  now  come  to  a  critical  stage.  Black's 
pieces  have  retired  into  safety,  ready,  with  one 
single  move,  to  occupy  points  of  importance. 
White,  on  the  contrary,  has  all  field  to  himself, 
but  he  can  do  nothing  for  the  present,  as  there  is 
no  tangible  object  of  attack.  Various  attempts 
have  been  made  to  show  that  White  has  here  the 
superior  position.  I  do  not  believe  that  White  has 
any  advantage,  and  am  rather  inclined  to  attribute 
the  greater  vitality  to  the  party  that  has  kept  its 
forces  a  little  back. 

Ere  we  proceed  any  further  let  us  consider  some 
sub-variations:— (9)  Kt— Q4,  Castles;  (10)R~Q, 
Q— K;  (11)  R— K  (to  prevent  either  P— E3  or 
P — Q4),  Kt — B4(not  to  be  recommended, although 
in  frequent  use);  (12)  Kt— QB3,  B— R3  ;  (13) 
Q-Kt4,  Kt— K3;  (14)  Kt— B5,  K— R;  (15) 
Kt — K4 ;  and  Black  is  quite  helpless  against  the 
threat  R— K3andR3,  etc.  Or  again;  (9)Kt— Q4. 
Castles;  (10)  R— Q,  Q— K;  (11)  R— K,  Kt— B4; 
(12)  KtB3,  Kt— K3;  (13)  Kt— B5,  P— Q4;  (14) 
PXP  e.p.,  PxP;  (15)  Q— Kt4,  P— Kt3  ;  (16) 
B— R6,  Kt— Kt2;  (17)  KtxBch,  QxKt;  (18) 
Q — Q4,  and  wins  at  least  the  exchange. 

These  variations  show  that  it  must  be  Black*s 
aim  to  post  his  KB  on  a  line  where  he  can  dosome 
effectual  work,  and  to  advance  his  QP.  From  this 
position  the  following  variations  suggest  them- 
selves:—    9      Kt— Q4  Castles 

10.  R— Q  Q— K 

11.  R— K  B— B4! 

12.  Kt— Kt3  B— Kt3 

13.  Kt— B3  P--Q4 


24 


and,  if  Black  has  not  the  best  of  the  position,  at 
least  all  danger  is  past.     Another  attempt ; 


9. 

Kt— B3 

Castles 

10. 

Kt— Q4 

P— B4 

11. 

B— K3 

Q—K 

12. 

P— KB4 

P-Q3 

Black's  pieces  are  again  all  well  in  play.  White 
has,  to  a  certain  extent,  compromised  himself  by 
the  advance  of  the  KBP. 

We  can  now  announce  our  final  judgment.  The 

defence  considered,   initiated  by  (3) ,  Kt 

— KB3,  yields,  in  all  respects,  a  satisfactory  game 
to  the  second  player. 


No.  3. 

Gentlemen, — Though  we  have  estabhshed  in 
our  last  Lecture  a  line  of  play  which  will  yield  a 
good  defence  to  the  usual  form  of  the  Ruy  Lopez, 
we  may  nevertheless  look  at  others  well  worth 
noticing.  Truth  derives  its  strength  not  so  much 
from  itself  as  from  the  brilliant  contrast  it  makes 
with  what  is  only  apparently  true.  This  applies 
especially  to  Chess,  where  it  is  often  found  that 
the  profoundest  moves  do  not  much  startle  the 
imagination. 

A  defence  which  is  frequently  played  is  initiated 
in  the  third  move  by  advancing  the  QRP  against 
our  Bishop.  I  need  not  dwell  on  the  point  that 
this  move  is  against  the  principles  of  our  first 
Lecture,  just  as  much  as  Kt — KB3  is  in  accord- 
ance with  them.  Neither  does  it,  I  believe,  lead 
to  an  even  game — an  opinion  which  I  shall  attempt 
to  substantiate  in  the  following  variations  : — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt— KB3  Kt— QB3 

3.  B— QKt5  P— QR3 
White  has  now  the  option  to   exchange  his 

Bishop  against  the  adverse  Kt,  or  to  retreat  it.  As 
a  general  rule,  it  i's  not  good  policy  to  exchange  in 
the  early  stages  of  a  game  the  long  reaching  Bishop 
against  the  Knight,  whose  power  does  not  extend 
beyond  a  certain  circle.     Therefore 

4.  B— QR4  Kt— KB3 

(4) P — Q3  is  not  to  be  recommended,  on 

account  of  (5)  P— Q4,  B— Q2;  (6)  P— B3,  P— B4 
(7)  KPxP,  P— K5  ;     (8)  Kt— Kt5,  with  an  all 
round  healthy  position  for  White. 
6.     Castles 


2« 


Both,  (5)  Kt— B3  or  P— Q3,  would  yield  White 
a  good  game.  His  chances  of  success  are,  how- 
ever, greatly  increased  if  he  adopts  a  more  dash- 
ing form  of  attack. 

5 KtxP 

Black  cannot  well  refuse  the  acceptance  of  the 
(momentary)  sacrifice,  as  otherwise  White  will 
obtain  a  good  position  by  P — Q4,    followed   bv 

P— K5  ;    or  else  (5) P— Q3  ;    (6)  P— Q4. 

P— QKt4  ;    (7)  PxP  with  a  good  game. 

6.  P— Q4  P— QKt4 

7.  B— Kt3  P— Q4 

Black  would  be  rather  venturesome  to  take  the 
QP,  because  White  could  continue  with  R — K 
and  molest  the  Black  KKt,  in  fact  finally  win  it. 

8.  PxP  B— K3 

9.  P— QB3 

White's  last  move  is  an  exception  to  the  rule  we 
have  hitherto  followed,  to  develop  as  quickly  as 
possible.  The  game  has  assumed  already  a  character 
of  its  own,  which  in  consequence  adds  to  the  im- 
portance of  some  pieces  in  preference  to  others. 
Onr  KB  is  destined  to  serve  as  the  backbone  of 
our  attack  against  the  Black  King,  in  the  moment 
(which  must  soon  arrive)  that  he  castles  on  the  K 
^ide.  We  therefore  preserve  it  against  the  possible 
attack  of  the  Black  Kts,  which  are  driven  into 
exposed  points. 

9 KB— B4 

K2  would  also  be  a  favorable  spot  for  the  Bishop, 
but  it  seems  necessary  to  reserve  this  point  for  the 
QKt. 


27 


Moreover,  there  is  a  certain  want  of  protection 
on  the  Q  vside,  for  which  you  provide  by  putting 
I  he  Bi.shop  into  the  rear  of  your  Pawns. 

No  fault  is  now  to  be  found  with  Black's 
development,  all  his  pieces  being  well  in  play;  but 
liis  Pawn  position  on  the  Q  side  is  compromised. 
How  White  will  take  advantage  of  that  weakness 
the  following  will  explain : — 

10.  Kt— Q2  Castles 

11.  B— B2 

Black. 


Whit«, 


The  position  becomes  now  very  instructive. 
Whether  the  twice  attacked  Kt  is  removed,  or 
exchanged,  or  guarded,  in  each  case  White  obtains 
a  splendid  game. 


A  11. 

Kt— Kt4 

12. 

KtxKt 

QxKt 

13. 

Kt— K4 

Q— K2 

14. 

KtxB 

QxKt 

15. 

B— K3 

Q— K2 

16. 

P— KB4 

sooner  or  later  threatening  P- 
position. 


-B5,  with  a  beautiful 


B    11. 


KtxKt 


What  is  the  right  move  now — the  move  which 
adds  most  to  the  power  of  our  pieces  ? 

12.     QxKt ! 

Now  we  threaten  Kt— Kt5.  With  P— KR3  he 
cannot  defend,  as  Q — Q3  would  force  P — KKt3, 
and  thus  the  gratuitous  win  of  the  RP.  If 
B— K2,  R— K,  to  be  followed  by  Kt— Q4,  and 
then  speedily  P — KB4,  would  give  us  the  pull ; 
so  he  plays 


12 

13.  P— QKt4 

14.  Kt— Kt5 


Kt— K2 
B— Kt3 


29 
BlvACK. 


I 


1^1  ^1 


m. ^i 1^1 »..  'mm. 


^-^       mm.      -mm,  .  i 


K.rM'' ...M  zMl 


^w-^^i^        «^       ^^^-^ 


i 

iJ^^^. ^^5«^ 


y^//////ZM^ 

I„4b isi  .^  n 


^..^^™ 


fii 


\V//////////. OfT^^TTT^/, 


^     ^     fe^ 


White. 

Let  us  consider  some  variations  in  this  interest- 
ing position  : 


A  14. 

P— KR3 

15. 

Kt— R7 

R— K 

16. 

Kt— B6ch 

PxKt 

17. 

QxP 

P— B4 

18. 

B— Kt5 

and  Black  is  without  defence. 


30 


B  14. 

Kt— Kt3 

15. 

Bxkt* 

RPXB 

16. 

Q-B4 

threatening  Q 

— R4,  etc. 

16. 

R— K 

17. 

Q— R4 

P— KB3 

18. 

Q— R7ch. 

K-B 

19. 

Q— R8ch. 

B— Kt 

20. 

PxP 

PxP 

21. 

Kt— R7ch. 

K— B2 

22. 

B— R6  and 

wins. 

C  14. 

B— KB4 

15. 

*BxB  * 

KtxB 

16. 

Q-Q3 

P— KKt3 

17. 

Q-R3 

P— R3 

18. 

P— KKt4 

PxKt 

19. 

PxKt 

Q— K2 

20. 

R— K 

Now  we  threaten  the  advance  of  our  KB  Fawn, 
to  be  followed  up  by  Q — R6.  So  Black  can  do 
nothing  else  but 

20 P— KB3 

21.  PxKtP  PxP 

22.  RxP 
regardless  of  expense, 

22 BxPch. 

23.  K— R  Q— Kt2 

24.  Q— K6ch.  K— R 

25.  RxKtP  winning  easily. 

What  must  strike  us  most  forcibly  in  this  varia- 
tion,  is   the   tremendous  power  of   our   K  side 


31 


Pawns,  which  have  swept  everything  before  them, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  totally  annihilated  the  oppos- 
ing force,  while  at  the  same  time  Black's  Q  side 
Pawns  have  been  lazy  spectators  of  the  fight. 

Let  us  go  back  again  to  where  we  left  off  the 
examination  of  our  principal  line  of  play. 

11 P— KB4 

12.  PxP  e./>. 

Also  Kt— Kt3  and  then  QKt— Q4  would  be  a 
good  continuation. 

12 KtxP 

13.  Kt— Kt5  B— Kt5 

14.  QKt— B3  Kt— K4 

15.  B— B4  KtxKt 

16.  PxKt  B— B 

B — Q2  would  be  still  worse  on  account  of  the  re- 
joinder (17)  B— K5. 

17.  Q— Q3  P— KKt3 

He  has  no  other  mode  of  defence.    If,  for  instance 

(17) ,  Kt— K5;   (18)  KtxKt,  PxKt;  (19) 

QxQ,  etc. 

18.  KtxP  B— B4 

Obviously,  if  (18) ,  KxKt;   (19)  QxPch, 

K — R;  (20)  K — R  would  speedily  decide  the  issue 

19.  KtxKtch.  RxKt 

20.  Q— Q2  BxB 

21.  B— Kt5  (or  else  QxB). 

with  a  winning  advantage. 


32 


My  object,  in  thus  diving  down  into  the  depths 
of  this  position,  is  not  by  any  means  to  provide 
your  memory  with  ballast.  All  I  want  to  show 
is  that  the  superior  position  will  perforce  become 
overpowering,  whichever  turn  you  may  try  to  give 
to  the  game.  And  why  have  we  got  what  we 
termed  the  superior  position?  You  see,  Black's 
Q  side  Pawns  do  not  work,  they  only  require  pro- 
tection, while  White's  Pawns,  either  actively  or 
only  as  potentials  of  future  action,  are  contribut- 
ing to  White's  success. 

But  we  must  not  yet  rest  satisfied  with  the  an- 
alysis. There  may  yet  be  a  way  of  escape,  at 
move  11,  namely, 

11 B— B4 

12.  Kt— Kt3  B— Kt3 

13.  P— QR4 

The  unfortunate  Q  side  Pawns  serve  us  again  as  a 
mark  for  attack.  Now  we  threaten  to  exchange 
the  Pawns,  then  the  Rook,  and  to  gain  the  QP. 

13 R— QKt 

This  move  seems  to  be  the  only  practicable  reply, 
as  otherwise,  for  instance  after  Kt — K2,  QKt — Q4: 
would  become  very  dangerous. 

14.  KKt— Q4  KtxKt 

15.  KtxKt  BxKt 

or  if  (15) ,  B— Q2;  (16)  PxP,PxP;  (17) 

Q— Q3. 

16.  PxB 

Now  we  have  obtained  our  purpose.  Firstly,  we 
have  two  Bishops  beautifully  bearing  down  against 


33 


the  adverse  K  side;  then  Black's  QBP  is  now  kept 
backward  by  our  Q  Pawn,  and  will  never  be  able 
to  advance. 

16 B— Kt3 

or  else  P — B3  will  win  a  piece. 

17.  PxP  PxP 

18.  R— R7  P— QB3 
Kt— Kt4 
R— B 
Kt— K3 
BxB 
Q-Q2 

A  desperate  attempt  to  free  himself  by  (23) , 

P— QB4  would  fail  against  (24)  PxP,  P— Q5  ; 
(25)  R— Q6,  RxP;    (26)  Q— Q3. 

24.  P— B5  Kt— Q 

25.  Q— KB2 

We  now  want  our  most  powerful  piece  on  the  K 
side. 

25 K— R 

26.  Q— R4  Q— Kt2 

He  must,  after  all,  try  to  get  something  out  of 
his  Q  side. 


19. 

P— B3 

20. 

R— R6 

21. 

B— K3 

22. 

P— B4 

^3. 

QXB 

27. 

P— B6 

P— Kt3 

28. 

Q— R6 

Kt— K3 

29. 

R— R3 

R— KKt 

30. 

B— Q2 

Kt— B 

31. 

B— Kt4 

and  Black  is  quite  helpless. 


84 


Again  I  beg  to  draw  your  attention  to  the  dif- 
ference of  power  exerted  by  the  White  and  the 
Black  Pawns.  Taken  all  round  you  will  perhaps 
agree   with   me   when  I  declare   that  Black,  by 

choosing  the  defence  (3) ,  P— QR3  to  the 

Ruy  I/)pez,  unnecessarily  damages  his  Q  side 
Pawns,  while  the  development  of  his  pieces  gives 
him  no  compensation  for  that  disadvantage. 

To  relieve  your  chess  nerves  from  the  tension 
which  they  must  have  undergone  to-day,  allow  me 
to  introduce,  as  a  finale,  a  more  pleasing  matter. 
In  my  match  with  Mr.  Steinitz,  that  master  chose, 
for  a  long  while,  a  somewhat  close  defence  to  the 
Ruy  Lopez,  beginning  with  (3)  P — Q3.  The 
game  usually  ran  as  follows: — 


1.  P— K4 

2.  Kt— KB3 

3.  B— Kt5 

4.  P-Q4 

5.  Kt— B3 

6.  B— QB4 

P— K4 
Kt— QB3 
P— Q3 
B-Q2 
KKt— K2 

<;,  of  course,  Kt- 

-KKt5. 

6 

7.     KtxP 

PxP 

Now  it  seems  that  Black,  in  order  to  keep  White's 
Queen  at  bay,  has  a  good  way  of  developing  his 
KB  by  means  of  P— KKt3  and  BKt2,  where  the 
Bishop  certainly  would  have  an  excellent  diagonal. 
This  little  plan,  however,  was  never  executed  by 


85 


Mr.  Steinitz,  the  reason  appearing  in  what  fol- 
lows.    If 

7 P— KKt3 

8.  B— KKt5 

In  order  to  take  possession  of  the  diagonal  which 
Black  attempts  to  occupy. 

8 B— Kt2 

9.  Kt—QS 

attack  and  counter-attack. 

9 BxKt 

Anything  else  would  be  clearly  disadvantageous. 
Black,  of  course,  is  now  under  the  expectation 
that  White  will  continue  with  (10)  KtxKt,  when 
BxP  would  allow  Black  to  get  out  of  danger.  But 
White  has  a  more  efficient  move  at  his  disposal; 

10.  QxB! 

This  is  very  awkward  for  Black.      If  now  (10) 

KtxQ  ;     (11)  Kt— B6ch.,  K— B  ;     (12) 

B — R6  checkmate.  So  nothing  remains  but  to 
castle. 

10 Castles 

11.  Kt—BGch.  K— R 

12.  Kt— Kt4ch.         KtxQ 

13.  B— B6ch.  K— Kt 

14.  Kt— R6  checkmate. 


36 


No.  4 

Gentlemen, — The  Evan's  gambit,  which  in  ac- 
cordance with  your  desire  I  have  chosen  to-night 
as  subject  of  discussion,  is  constituted  by  these 
four  moves: — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt— KB3  Kt— QB3 

3.  B— B4  B— B4 

4.  P— QKt4 

There  is  no  necessity  for  Black  to  accept  the 
offer  of  the  Pawn.  On  the  contrary,  if  he  retires 
with  his  Bishop  to  Kt3  in  reply,  he  will, as  White's 
last  move  has  in  no  way  furthered  his  develop- 
ment, gain  a  small  but  distinct  advantage  in  posi- 
tion. The  pla}^  which  would  then  ensue  will  be 
of  the  following  character: — 


4. 

B— Kt3 

5. 

P— QR4 

P— QR3 

6. 

P— QB3 

Kt— KB3 

7. 

P-Q3 

P— Q3 

8. 

Castles 

Kt— K2 

soon  to  be  followed  by  P— QB3  and  PQ4.  Black's 
pieces  are  all  well  placed,  no  matter  whether 
White  castles  at  his  eighth  turn  to  move,  or  de- 
fers that  yet  for  some  time.  If  White  therefore 
sacrifices  a  Pawn  by  giving  the  gambit,  Black 
sacrifices  the  sure  prospect  of  positional  advan- 
tage by  taking  it. 

The  idea  of  the  gambit  is  very  obvious.     We 
want  to  continue,  if  BxP  (or  KtxP),  with 

5.     P— QB3 


87 


and  later  on  proceed  with  the  advance  of  tlie  QP, 
so  as  to  obtain  a  very  strong  centre  and  to  open 
several  lines  for  the  attack  of  the  pieces.  The 
Bishop  can  retire  to  either  B4,  R4,  K2,  to  his 
own  square,  or  to  Q3,  where  he  is  not  as  badly 
placed  as  at  first  sight  appears.  The  best  players 
tavor  B — R4:  or  B4,  with  a  preference  for  the  for- 
mer. If  we  retire  to  B4  the  Bishop  may  be  at- 
tacked again  by  P — Q4,  while  on  the  contrary 
B — R4  counteracts  that  advance.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Bishop  at  R4  will  take  away  from  the 
QKt  an  important  point,  from  where  he  might 
attack  the  White  KB.     But  taken  all  around, 

5 B— R4 

seems  to  be  the  preferable  move. 

White  has  now  two  formidable  continuations. 

6.  P-Q4 

naturally  suggests  itself  first,  although  it  is  not  of 
such   lasting   effect  as  another  move  which  we 
shall  consider  later  on. 
Black  will  answer 

6 PxP 

7.  Castles  PxP 

The  weakest  point  in  Black's  camp  is  the  KBP, 
so  we  follow  up  our  attack  by 

8.  Q— Kt3 

Black  can  reply  with  either  Q — K2  or  Q— B3. 
From  K2  the  Q  has  hardly  any  move  that  is  not 
commanded  by  White's  pieces,  therefore 
8 Q— B3 

9.  P— K5 


38 


in  the  expectation  of  embarrassing  Black's  de- 
velopment, as  neither  the  QP  nor  the  KBP  can 
advance  for  the  present  without  being  taken,  with- 
v^^ith  the  effect  that  all  lines  are  opened  up  to  our 
pieces. 

9 Q— Kt3 

10.     KtxP  KKt— K2 

Black. 


lliiiiHlilii 

#1 


wm     m. 


111  ■ 


n 

W/////^, 


m^m 


White.  . 
In  this  position  we  already  see  that  White's  at- 
tacking moves  are  pretty  well  exhausted.      He 
has  only  a  very  unsatisfactory  continuation. 
11.     B— R3 


which  gives  to  the  Bishop  a  long  file  merely  in 
exchange  for  another  one. 

This  position  has  been  subject  of  analysis  for 
many  decades,  and  several  variations  have  been 
found  v^^hich  seem  to  leave  Black  with  a  compar- 
atively safe  K  position  and  a  Pawn  ahead.  None 
of  the  continuations  given  seem  to  be  superior  to 
the  one  that  follows. 

11 BxKt 

(This  move  was  suggested  by  Mr.  Lord  during 
the  lecture). 

12.  QxB  P— QKt3 

13.  B— Q3  Q— R3 

Not  Q— R4,  as  (14)  BxKt,  KxB;    (15)  P— K6, 
might  follow. 

14.     KR^Q  B— Kt2 

and  it  is  difficult  to  see  in  which  way  White  will 
make  good  his  minus  of  two  Pawns. 

This  line  of  play,  the  so-called  compromised 
defence  of  the  Evans  gambit,  leads  sometimes  to 
very  brilliant  combinations.  Let  me  give  you  an 
instance  of  this  at  move  11  of  our  principal  varia- 
tion. 


11. 

Castles 

12. 

QR-Q 

KR— K 

13. 

Kt— K4 

QxKt 

14. 

BxPch 

K— B 

15. 

B— Kt8 

P— Q4 

16. 

PxP  e.p. 

KtxB 

17. 

Kt— Kt5 

Q— B4 

18. 

Q— B7ch. 

QXQ 

19. 

KtxP  mate 

40 


Instead  of  (6)  P — Q4,  the  greatest  connoisseur 
of  the  Evans,  Mr.  Tchigorin,  favors  (6)  castles, 
with  the  object  of  maintaining  his  centre.  It 
cannot  be  doubted  that  this  line  of  play  is  more 
in  keeping  with  the  original  idea  of  the  gambit. 

Black,  in  accordance  with  the  principles  laid 
down  in  lecture  1,  must  either  play  his  QP,  or 
his  KKt.  It  is  usually  the  best  policy  when  you 
are  subject  to  a  violent  attack  to  move  the  QP, 
and  when  you  are  the  aggressive  party  to  develop 
your  pieces  first. 

In  the  position  before  us 

6 P— Q3 

appears  therefore  to  be  the  allowed  sounder  play. 

7.  P— Q4  PxP 

8.  PxP  B— Kt3 

leads  to  the  "normal  position**  of  the  Evans. 
The  five  Pawns  that  White  has  gathered  on  his 
K  wing  against  Black's  four,  exert  a  considerable 
amount  of  pressure  on  Black's  pieces,  the  more  so 
as  Black  will  be  obliged  to  leave  his  K  on  the  dan- 
gerous side.  It  is  true  that  Black  may  estab- 
lish three  pawns  to  one  on  the  other  wing  ;  but 
then  it  will  take  him  a  great  deal  of  time  to  force 
the  fighting  on  that  side,  while  White's  pieces 
will  soon  be  in  direction  and  ready  for  assault. 

Various  continuations  have  recently  been  recom- 
mended as  best  for  White  ;  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  old  way  of  playing  is  as  good  as  any.  The 
line  of  play  usually  followed  by  the  old  masters  is 


41 


9.  P— Q5 

10.  B— Kt2 

11.  B— Q3 

12.  Kt— B3 


Kt— R4 
Kt— K2 
P— KB3 

Castles 


Black. 


im  i  im 


m. 


'im 


H   m 


WB^    R    M 


1  ,  /mm 


"wKiTm 


White. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  analyze  the  position 
by  the  method  usually  followed,  of  simply  enum- 
erating all  possible  variations.  Such  analysis,  un- 
less it  is  very  thorough,  I  contend,  is  quite  useless. 
It  certainly,  as  the  experience  of  many  centuries 
indisputably  shows,  would  by  no  means  exclude 


42 


the  possibility  of  committing  grave  errors,  and  it 
usually  puts  into  obscurity  the  points  of  view  from 
which  the  essential  characteristics  of  the  position 
may  be  deduced. 

Without  going  into  details,  this  much  is  certain, 
either 

(«)  Black  will  advance  his  KBP  to  B4 ;    or, 

(5)  He  will  initiate  an  attack  on  the  Q  side  with 
P— QB4,  P— QR3,  B— B2,  P— QKt4,  etc  ;  or, 

(c)  He  will  be  content  to  break  up  White's 
strong  centre  by  P — QB3. 

There  is  indeed  no  other  p/an  de  campagne  to 
follow. 

As  regards  the  first  point,  it  is  easily  seen  that 
such  an  advance  would  not  increase  the  defensive 
strength  of  Black's  position.  It  would  open  the 
file  of  the  White  QB,  the  point  K4  to  the  White 
Kts  (after  the  exchange  of  the  Pawns)  and  prob- 
ably facilitate  the  joint  attack  of  the  White  KBP 
and  KKtP. 

(J))  This  was  the  plan  of  defence,  or  rather 
counter  attack,  in  Anderssen's  tierce.  White  will 
obtain  the  advantage  in  the  following  manner  : 


13. 

K— R 

Kt— Kt3 

14. 

Kt-Q2 

P— QB4 

15. 

P— KB4 

P~QR3 

16. 

Kt— K2 

B— B2 

17. 

Kt— B3 

P— QKt4 

18. 
19. 

P— B5 
Kt— B4 

Kt— K4 

48 


This  will  represent  pretty  accurately  the  state 
of  affairs  ten  or  twelve  moves  after  the  normal 
position  has  been  arrived  at.  It  takes  at  least 
seven  moves  to  bring  the  Black  Pawns  to  their 
destination.  In  the  meantime,  White  is  free  to 
advance  his  KKt  Pawn  in  two  steps  to  Kt5,  and 
to  open  up  a  pernicious  attack  against  Black's  K 
side. 

(c)  White's  policy  will  be  exactly  as  in  (^),  to 
advance  his  KBP.  If  Black  exchanges  the  QBP 
against  the  QP,  the  KP  will  retake,  and  the  Black 
QKt  will  be  unfavorably  situated.  Black  has  in 
this  variation  practically  no  chance  of  winning,  in 
spite  of  his  extra  Pawn,  while  the  attack  of  White 
is  very  lasting  and  dangerous. 

It  seems  then  that  the  normal  position  will  yield 
to  White  much  better  chances  of  winning  than  it 
will  to  Black. 

If  you  want  to  simplify  matters,  I  advise  you 
to  play 

.7 B— Kt3 

At  once,  with  the  object  of  converting  your  extra 
material  into  positional  advantage.  If  then  (8) 
PxP,  PxP;  (9)  QxQ,  KtxQ;  (10)  KtxP, 
Kt — KB3.  Black's  solid  Pawns  and  good,  sound 
development  will  make  it  hard  to  White  to  keep 
up  the  equilibrium,  as  his  QRP,  and  more  so  the 
QBP,  require  constant  care.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  (8)  PxP,  PxP;  (9)  Q— Kt3,  Q— B3;  (10) 


u 


B— Q5,  KKt— K2;  (11)  B— Kt5.  Q— Kt3;  (12) 
QBxKt,  KxKt;  (13)  BxKt,  QxB;  (14)  KtxP, 
Q— K3;  (15)  Q— R3,  P— QB4  or  K— B3,  with 
two  Bishops,  a  healthy  development  of  forces  and 
a  solid  position. 

One  of  the  finest  games  on  record  was  played 
at  a  time  when  the  analysis  of  the  Evans  gambit 
was  not  yet  far  advanced.  It  has  been  named 
* '  the  evergreen  partie. "  The  leader  of  the  White 
forces  was  Professor  Anderssen. 


1. 

P— K4 

P— K4 

2. 

Kt— KB3 

Kt— QB3 

3. 

B— B4 

B— B4 

4. 

P— QK4 

BxP 

5. 

P— B3 

B— R4 

6. 

P— Q4 

PxP 

7. 
solet 

Castles 
:e  defence. 

P-Q6 

8. 

Q-Kt3 

Q— B3 

9. 

P— K5 

Q— Kt3 

10. 

B— R3 

KKt— K2 

11. 

R— K 

P— QKt4 

12. 

BxP 

R— QKt 

13. 

Q-R4 

B— Kt3 

14. 

QKt-Q2 

B— Kt2 

15. 

Kt~K4 

Q— B4 

16. 

BxP 

Q— R4 

17. 

Kt— B6ch 

PxKt 

18. 

PxP 

R— Kt 

45 

Black. 


1 


^   '?y/////M, 


■ 


^ '^kjT^A ^^^ 


fai      i 


White. 


19. 

QR-Q 

One  of  the  most  subtle  and  profound 

moves  on 

record. 

19. 

QxKt 

20. 

RxKtch 

KtxR 

21. 

QxPch 

Grand!  -   . 

21 KxQ 

22.  B— B5doublech  K— B3 

23.  B— QTcheckmate 

If  at  move  20  Black  continues  with  (20) , 

K— Q;  (21)RxPch.  K— B;  (22)  R— Q8ch,KtxR; 
(23)  Q — Q7ch  and  mates  in  two  more  moves. 


No.  5 


Gentlemen, — According  to  the  request  you 
made  to  me  last  Monday,  we  shall  consider  to-day 
the  King's  Bishop's  gambit,  which  as  you  all 
know,  is  constituted  by  these  moves  : — 


1. 

P— K4 

P— K4 

2. 

P— KB4 

PxP 

3. 

B— B4 

If  I  remind  you  of  Rule  III.  you  will  admit 
that  the  development  of  the  B  is  not  in  accord- 
ance with  our  fundamental  principles.  Actually 
the  move  of  the  KKt  to  B3  would  be  far  stronger, 
as  it  leads  to  a  fairly  even  game,  while  the  KB 
gambit  should  be  lost  to  the  first  player. 

The  defence  will,  before  all,  disturb  the  quiet 

course  of  White's  development,   by  (3) , 

Q — R5ch.,  to  which  White  is  bound  to  answer 
with 

4.     K— B 

According  to  the  principles  of  development, 
either  the  QP  or  one  of  the  Kts  should  move. 
White  is  threatening  to  bring  forth  an  enormous 
force  in  no  more  than  three  moves,  to  bear  upon 
the  centre  of  the  board,  namely  Kt — KB3, 
Kt— QB3,  P— Q4.  Black  dare  not  quietly  submit 
to  that,  as  for  the  moment  his  Q  is  exposed  to 
danger.  To  keep  the  White  K  in  his  unsound 
position,  to  spoil  the  plan  of  White,  and  to  aid  the 
quick  development  of  Black's  forces,  the  best  pol- 
icy is  the  most  aggressive  one,  that  is  the  one 
initiated  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  QP. 


47 

4 P~Q4 

5.  BxP 

Now,  before  anything  else  is  undertaken 

5 P— KKt4  ! 

Our  Bishops  have  two  long  lines  ;  our  Kts  have 
only  one  move  to  make  to  occupy  points  of  im- 
portance, and  to  add  to  the  firmness  of  our  posi- 
tion. We  can,  therefore,  spare  the  time  for  this 
advance  of  the  KKtP,  destined  to  protect  our 
KBP  against  all  possible  attack,  and  to  render 
the  K  side  unsafe  for  White's  pieces. 

6.  Kt— KB3  Q— R4 

7.  P— KR4  B— Kt2 

An  excellent  reply.  The  Bishop  not  only  protects 
the  Rook,  but  guards  the  two  centre  points,  Q4 
(Q5),  K5  (K4). 


8. 

P— Q4 

P— KR3 

9. 

K— Kt 

Q— Kt3 

10. 

Kt— QB3 

Kt— K2 

So  far,  everything  went  all  right,  because  White 
consistently  played  for  the  development  of  his 
minor  pieces.  Now  it  becomes  apparent  that  the 
White  QR  is  awkwardly  placed,  and  the  QB  no 
less.  The  K  position  need  not  give  any  anxiety, 
but  the  Q  has  somehow  no  good  prospects  of  ser- 
ving her  cause.  At  the  same  time,  Black  is  quite 
safe — there  is  only  one  weak  point  in  his  camp, 
the  KBP — and  any  possible  attacks  of  the  White 
minor  pieces  in  the  centre  are  obviated  by  the 
clever  sacrifice  of  the  fourth  move. 


48 

Black. 


ill 


W4  t  WM       'MB  L 


iil^lli 


^^^^'^^''"''^^8^ 


1^ ^. 


'p^' 


ill  I 

I A  111    IM 


^. ^■^i^Fm'?^^"^»W 


?^, §fe^ 


^X-'^p '^'"'" 


^ 


White. 


11.  Q-Q3 
preparatory  to  B — Q2 

11 

12.  B— Kt3 


P— QB3 
B— Kt5  ! 


Here  the  QB  has  a  splendid  position  safe  of  all 


49 


possible  attack  by  inferior  pieces  and  with  R4  as  a 
safe  retreat. 

13.  B— Q2  Kt— Q2 

14.  K— B2  Castles  Q  side 

All  the  weakness  of  the  White  game  becomes 
now  at  once  apparent .  His  K  and  QP  are  ex- 
posed to  the  most  direct  attack  of  the  hostile  R 
and  Kts,  and  KB.  Try  what  he  may  the  day  is 
gone.  Black  threatens  BxKt  and  Kt— K4.  If 
(15)  Kt— K2,  Kt— QB4  wins  directly.  If  (15) 
PxP,  PxP;  (16)  RxR,  BxR  the  danger  is 
not  obviated.  If  finally  (15)  Q— B4,  BxKt;  (16) 
PxB,Kt— K4;  (17)PxKt,  RxBch.;  (18)  K— K, 
KR— Q;  (19)QxP,  QxQ;  (20)BxQ,  BxP; 
(21)  B— Kt3,  BxKt;  (22)  PxB,  Kt— Kt3,  fol- 
lowed by  Kt — K4,  is  at  least  one  way  of  obtaining 
a  great  advantage. 

Let  us  return  to  move  11,  and  vary  White's 
play. 

11.  P— K5  P— QB3 

12.  B— K4  B— KB4 

13.  Q— K2  Kt— Q2 

14.  BxB  KtxB 


White  is  obliged  to  undertake  some  kind  of  attack, 
or  Black  will  Castle  Q  side,  and  the  breakdown 
of  White's  centre  will  be  practically  certain. 

15.     Kt— •K4  P— KKt6 


50 


Now  at  last,  this  advance  is  justified,  because  the 
QP  has  lost  its  protection  by  the  Q 

16.  Kt— Q6ch.  K— B 

17.  KtxKt  PxKt 

and  wins  a  piece  or  (17)  P — R5,  PxKt  or  (17) 
Kt— K,  QxKt ;  (18)  PxKt,  BxPch.,  and  should 
win. 

We  must  therefore  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  KB  gambit  is  unsound.  I  will  not  pretend 
that  there  is  any  right  and  wrong  in  Chess  from 
an  ethical  standpoint,  but  by  what  right  should 
White,  in  an  absolutely  even  position,  such  as 
after  move  1,  when  both  sides  have  advanced 
P — K4,  sacrifice  a  Pawn,  whose  recapture  is  quite 
uncertain,  and  open  up  his  K  side  to  attack  ?  And 
then  follow  up  this  policy  by  leaving  the  check  of 
the  Black  Queen  open  ?  None  whatever  !  The 
idea  of  the  gambit,  if  it  has  any  justification,  can 
only  be  to  allure  Black  into  the  too  violent  and 
hasty  pursuit  of  his  attack.  If,  therefore,  we  can 
obtain  by  sound  and  consistent  play,  the  superior- 
ity of  position,  common  sense  triumphs  over 
trickery,  and  rightly  so. 

When  the  analytical  and  theoretical  knowledge 
of  Chess  was  not  so  far  advanced  as  at  the  present 
time,  famous  players  frequently  chose  the  lively 
forms  of  development  which  are  the  outcome  of 
gambits.  One  of  these  games,  though  unsound 
in  the  highest  degree,  has  been  of  such  excep- 


I 


61 


tionally  brilliant  character  that  it  was  honored  by 
the  players  of  the  time  with  a  special  name.  We 
know  it  as  "The  Immortal  Partie."  Here  its 
moves  follow  : 


White. 

BI.ACK. 

Anderssen. 

Kieseritzky. 

1. 

P— K4 

P— K4 

2. 

P— KB4 

PxP 

3. 

B— B4 

Q— R5ch. 

4. 

K— B 

P— QKt4 

5. 

BxP 

Kt— KB3 

6, 

Kt— KB3 

Q— R3 

7. 

P— Q3 

Kt— R4 

8. 

Kt— R4 

P— QB3 

9. 

Kt— B5 

Q— Kt4 

10. 

P— KKt4 

Kt— B3 

11. 

R— KKt 

PxB 

12. 

P— KR4 

Q-Kt3 

13. 

P— R5 

Q-Kt4 

14. 

Q— B3 

Kt— Kt 

15. 

BxP 

Q— B3 

16. 

Kt— B3 

B— B4 

17. 

Kt-Q5 

I  have  not  dwelt  on  the  constant  violation  of 
principle  by  Black.  The  consequence  of  his  im- 
aginative schemes  is  that  none  of  his  pieces  are 
developed  ;  and  here  White  could  have  smashed 
Black  up  by  advancing  first  P — Q4. 

17 QxP 

18.     B— Q6 


52 

Black. 


rw^'^ 


ill ,: ■  i  ■  i  ill ,.  i 

J    »    B 
# ^^1 ^^ 


■///////?// 


ill 


m.^  'mm. 


1  ^  €Sl 


A  fine  coup. 


Whitb. 


18 

19.  K— K2 

20.  P— K5 


QxRch. 
•BxR 


Obstructing  the  line  from  QR8  to  KKt2.   A  glor- 
ious finish. 

20 Kt--QR3 

21.  KtxPch.  K— Q 

22.  Q— B6ch.  KtxQ 

23.  B— K7  checkmate 


No.  6. 

Gentlemen, — As  you  have  expressed  the  desire 
to  have  one  of  the  close  openings  discussed,  I  have 
chosen  to-night  as  subject  of  discussion  the  popu- 
lar and  important  French  defence,  which  arises 
when  Black  replies  to  White's  P— K4  with  P— K3. 

1.  P— K4:  P— K3 

This  defence  had  for  a  long  time  the  reputation  of 
leading  to  a  dull  kind  of  game.  In  later  years  it 
has  been  found  that  it  gives  opportunities  for  a 
great  many  violent  attacks  of  a  character  which 
it  is  difficult  to  obtain  in  any  other  opening. 

The  difference  between  Black's  first  move  P — 
K3  and  the  other  P — K4,  commonly  chosen,  is 
twofold.  The  Pawn  at  K3  blocks  the  long  diag- 
onal of  the  Black  QB  reaching  up  to  KR6,  which 
is,  I  might  say,  almost  naturally  open  to  him.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  ordinary  games  which  open 
with  P — K4  on  each  side,  the  White  KB  can  take 
up  a  very  strong  diagonal  from  QB4  pointing 
towards  the  initially  weakest  point  in  Black's 
camp,  the  square  KB2.  This  line  also  is  obstructed. 
These  two  peculiarities  give  to  the  French  defence 
a  character  of  its  own,  which,  with  good  play  on 
the  part  of  White,  it  should  never  lose. 

The  move,  which  gives  to  the  White  pieces  as 
much  freedom  as  can  be  obtained  in  one  single 
move,  is 

2.  P— Q4 

And  just  so  on  the  part  of  Black. 

2 ^  P-Q4 

As  early  as  this,  opinions"greatly  differ  as  to  the 


64 


best  continuation  to  be  chosen  by  White.  The 
attack  has  namely  the  choice — 

a.     To  sacrifice  the  KP. 

b»     To  exchange  it. 

c.  To  advance  it. 

d.  To  guard  it. 

{a)  May  be  at  once  dismissed.  If  we  play  (3) 
Kt— KB3,  PxP  ;  (4)  Kt— Kt5,  this  may  lead  to 
a  tricky  game,  but  with  sound  and  energetic  play 
on  the  part  of  Black,  a  great  advantage  ought  to 
accrue  to  the  second  player.  (<:)  is  equally  inad- 
visable, as  the  early  advance  of  Pawns  unbacked 
by  pieces  always  is.  This  may  be  the  line  of  play 
to  follow : — 


3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 

7. 

P— K5 
P— QB3 
Kt— KB3 
B— K2 

Castles 

P-QB4 
Kt— QB3 
Q— Kt3 
KKt— K2 
Kt— B4 

or     5. 
6. 
7. 

8. 

9. 

and  if        10. 

P— KB4 
Kt— KB3 
P— QKt3 
B— K3 
B— B2 
PxP 

Q— Kt3 
BQ2 
Kt— R3 
Kt— B4 
PxP 
B— Kt5ch. 

You  see  White  comes,  without  compensation, 
into  great  difficulties. 

(J))  The  exchange  of  the  Pawns  in  the  third 

move 

3. 

PxP 

PxP 

leads  to  a  very  even  game,  in  which  the  advan- 
tage of  the  first  move  counts  for  very  little.    The 
game  might  go  on 

55 


4. 

Kt— KB3 

Kt— KB3 

5. 

B— Q3 

B— Q3 

6. 

Castles 

Castles 

7. 

B— KKt5 

B— K3 

8. 

QKt-Q2 

QKt-Q2 

9. 

R— K 

R— K 

10. 

Kt— K5 

Kt—B 

or  10. 

P— B3 

Kt— B 

11. 

Q~B2 

P— B3 

12. 

R— K2 

Q-B2 

13. 

BxKt 

PXB 

14. 

QR-K 

Kt— Kt3 

15. 

P— KKt3 

When  the  advantage  of  the  doubled  Rooks  on  the 
open  file  is  counterbalanced  by  the  strong  position 
of  the  two  Black  Bishops,  and  Black  may  even 
have,  on  account  of  the  somewhat  questionable 
exchange  at  move  13,  the  superior  game. 

A  game  well  worth  knowing  is  the  one  played 
by  Blackburne  against  Scbwarz  in  Berlin,  1881. 
(1)  P— K4,  P— K3;  (2)  P— Q4,  P— Q4;  (3)  PxP, 
PXP  ;  (4)  Kt— KB3,  B— Q3  ;  (5)  B— Q3,  Kt— 
KB3;  (6)  Castles,  castles;  (7)  B— KKt5,  B— 
KKt5;  (8)  Kt— B3,  Kt— B3  ;  (9)  BxKt,  QxB. 
White  is  greedy  to  win  a  Pawn,  and  voluntarily 
exchanges  B  v.  pinned  Kt — always  a  great  mis- 
take. (10)  KtxP,  Q— R3;  (11)  P— KR3, 
KtxP,  and  Black  (Blackburne)  won  easily,  as 
White's  K  position  is  exposed. 

The  want  oi finesse  in  variation  {h)  is  accounted 
for  by  the  Pawn  position.  The  Pawn  at  Q4  takes 
away  a  good  square  from  the  KKt ;  it  blocks  the 
file  of  the  B  from  K3  to  R7,  or  from  QB3  to 


56 


KKt7  ;  it  further  obstructs  the  Q  file.  If  the  two 
Pawns  on  the  Q  file  could  by  some  means  be  ex- 
changed, the  position  would  assume  a  very  differ- 
ent character.  As  it  is  they  are  never  to  be  got 
rid  of,  unless  with  the  friendly  assistance  of  your 
opponent. 

{d)  The  strongest  move  that  comes  under  this 
heading  is  (3)  Kt — QB3.  A  custom  has  lately 
sprung  up  of  posting  this  Kt  at  Q2,  where  it 
obstructs  the  QB  and  the  Q.  A  good  reply 
against  such  sickly  policy  is  always  to  open  up  all 
lines  quickly  ;  for  instance,  in  the  given  case  to 
advance  P — QB4.  To  the  move  actually  chosen 
Black's  answer  is,  as  a  rule 

3 Kt--KB3 

Now  most  players  choose  as  continuation 

4.     B— KKt5 

A  move  unquestionably  against  the  rules  of  de- 
velopment, to  which  Black  ought  to  reply  by 


4. 

PxP 

5. 

KtxP 

P— K2 

6. 

BxKt 

PxB 

7. 

Kt— KB3 

P— KB4 

8. 

Kt— Kt3 

P-QB4 

And  Black  will  have  a  very  good  game. 
The  better  play  is  the  more  audacious  one, 

4.  P— K5  KKt— Q2 

5.  P— KB4 

According  to  one  of  Mr.  Steinitz's  principles, 
which  is,  whenever  you  advance  your  Pawn  to 
K5,  back  it  up  by  P — KB4  as  soon  as  possible. 


67 


6.     PxP 


P— QB4 


This  exchange  of  Pawns  is  imperative.  In  former 
years  White  invariably  tried,  in  close  games,  to 
keep  his  P  at  Q4  by  backing  it  up  by  P — QB3. 
This  policy  has  the  two  great  disadvantages  that 
it  leaves  a  weak  Pawn  at  Q4  open  to  attack,  and 
that  it  opens  a  file  (the  QB  file)  for  the  interven- 
tion of  the  Black  Rooks. 


BlvACK. 


nan 


i. 


^^i 


m0^M§      ^^m>- 


11  i  H^H  i  11  i 


^ »^ 


m       ^mm       Pi       mm 


1    i 


'^miM       '^///////^ 


^Q^ 


Whitk. 


68 


6 BxP 

7.  Q— Kt4  Castles 

8.  B— Q3  Kt— QB3 

9.  Kt— B3 

White  now  threatens  the  sacrifice,  which  is  so 
common  in  close  games,  that  of  B  against  RP. 

9 P— KB4 

10.  Q— R3  Kt— Kt5 

11.  P— KKt4 

White  has  only  one  aim — to  make  play  on  the  K 
side,  while  the  development  of  the  Black  QB  is 
yet  unaccomplished.  He  therefore  does  not  lose 
any  time  by  advancing  the  QRP,  and  has  now  a 
fine  attacking  game.     Assume  for  instance 


11. 

KtxBch. 

12. 

PxKt 

Kt— Kt3 

13. 

P-Q4 

B— Kt5 

14. 

R— KKt 

Q-B2 

15. 

B— Q2 

Kt— B5 

16. 

P-R3 

KtxB 

17. 

KxKt 

A^hil 

:e  game  is  a 

Itogether  prefer 

11. 

Kt— Kt3 

12. 

P— QR3 

KtxBch. 

13. 

PxKt 

B— Q2 

14. 

P— QKt4 

B— K2 

15. 

Kt-Q4 

59 

To  make  an6tlier  attempt 

11 Q— Kt3 

12.  PxP  KtxBch. 

13.  PxKt  RxP 

14.  KtxP 

and  should  win. 

If,  then,   Black  is  reduced  at  move  9  to  the 
necessity 

9.      P— KR3 

White  can,  nevertheless,  pursue  the  policy  of 
aggression  by  immediately  adv^ancing  his  KKtP. 

10.     P— KKt4 

To  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  thus  offered 
of  opening  up  the  adverse  K  side. 

Black  may  strengthen  his  defence  at  move  6 

6 Kt— QB3 

7.  P— QR3  BxP 

The  Pavi^n  must  Ije  taken  now,  as  otherwise  P — 
QKt4  will  save  it.  To  capture  it  with  Kt  does 
not  appear  to  be  superior,  as  the  Kt  is  not  ver}^ 
happily  placed  at  B4,  and  obstructs  the  KB  some- 
what. 

8.  Q— Kt4  Castles 

Here  Black  may  defend  himself  by  P — KKt3, 
when  a  very  difficult  game  will  ensue,  in  which, 
however,  the  Black  K  side  Pawns  will  furnish 
White  with  good  objects  of  attack. 

9.  B— 03  P— QR3 


00 


It  is  difficult  to  suggest  a  different  line  of  play. 
Black  must  do  something  to  bring  the  White  Q 
side  under  a  certain  pressure,  as  otherwise  White 
would  gratuitously  obtain  a  good  K  side  attack. 
The  advance  of  the  QRP  and  the  QKtP  seem  to 
be  the  only  means  of  accomplishing  that  purpose. 

10.  Kt— KB3 
threatening  BxPch. 

10 P— KB4 

11.  Q— R3  P— QKt4 

12.  P— KKt4  P— KKt3 

13.  Q— Kt3 

A  very  important  manoeuvre,  but  it  is  difficult  to 
say  whether  this  move,  or  Q — Kt2,  will,  in  the 
the  end  prove  superior. 

13 K— R 

Again  it  is  hard  to  find  out  better  play,  as  White 
threatens  to  obtain  a  passed  K  Pawn  by  PxP. 

14.  P— KR4 

with  a  first  rate  attack. 

I  think  you  will  agree  with  the  proposition  that 
I  have  to  lay  down,  viz.,  that  (3)  Kt— KB3  sub- 
jects the  defence  to  a  difficult  game.  As  a  good 
reply  to  (3)  Kt — QB3  I  advise  you  to  choose  the 
following  continuation 


3. 



PxP 

4. 

ktxp' 

Kt— KB3 

5. 

Kt— Kt3 

P— QB4 

6. 

Kt— B3 

Kt— B3 

7. 

B— K3 

Q— Kt3 

61 


or,    5. 

B— Q3 

P— QB4 

6. 

PxP 

BxP 

7. 

KtxB 

Q— R4ch^ 

8. 

P— B3 

QxKt 

9. 

B— K3 

Q— B2 

10. 

Kt— B3 

Kt— B3 

11. 

Castles 

P— QKt3 

It  is  dangerous  to  Castle  into  the  two  B  files  ;  so 
Black  first  brings  out  his  B— Kt2,  R  to  Q  square, 
and  waits  with  moving  his  King  until  White  has 
spent  some  of  his  accumulated  ''potential  force" 
(gathered  in  the  centre).    You  may  vary  your 

tactics  at  move  5  by  playing :   (5) Kt — 

B3  ;    (6)  P— QB3,  P— K4  with  a  good.game. 

One  word  about  close  games  in  general.  The 
rules  of  quick  development,  as  laid  down  in  lecture 
1,  require  one  amendment,  viz.,  do  not  obstruct 
your  QBP  by  your  QKt  (unless  you  wish  to  open 
the  game  at  once  by  P — K4),  and  advance  that 
Pawn  as  early  as  you  can  to  QB4. 

After  the  Easter  holidays  we  shall  discuss  the 
general  principles  of  the  remaining  parts  of  the 
game,  when  much  that  has  been  said  hitherto,  will 
obtain  a  different  and  a  deeper  meaning. 


Nos.  7  and  8 

Gentlemen, — So  far  we  have  considered  the  first 
part  of  a  game  of  Chess,  called  the  opening,  and 
usually  embracing  about  a  dozen  moves.  The 
object  of  development  is,  as  we  have  seen,  to  get 
the  pieces  into  action,  and  to  place  them  on  favor- 
able lines,  in  order  to  have  them  at  hand  when 
you  intend  to  make  them  "  work."  The  process 
of  making  pieces  in  chess  do  something  useful 
(whatever  it  may  be)  has  received  a  special  name : 
it  is  called  the  attack.  The  attack  is  that  process 
by  means  of  which  you  remove  obstructions.  That  is 
so  in  every  fight,  whether  it  be  a  battle,  or  a  fight 
with  swords,  or  a  boxing  encounter,  this  defini- 
tion will  always  apply. 

Let  us  compare  the  game  of  Chess  to  some  other 
fight — for  instance,  to  a  battle.  Two  armies  op- 
posite each  other  are  attempting  to  destroy,  or  at 
least  to  frighten  each  other.  The  armies,  if  about 
even  in  numbers,  and  also  as  far  as  favorable  posi- 
tion is  concerned,  will  each  have  a  superiority  in 
some  quarter  which  will  enable  them  not  only  to 
hold  their  opponents  there  in  check,  but  also  to 
drive  them  out  of  their  position.  Three  things 
determine  whether  an  attack  should  be  made,  and, 
if  so,  in  which  manner.     First  of  all  the  proper- 


63 


tion  of  the  attacking  force  to  that  directly  oppos- 
ing it  in  numbers ;  secondly  the  nature  of  the 
surroundings ;  thirdly  the  relation  of  the  forces 
engaged  to  the  rest  of  the  army. 

The  third  consideration  will  influence  the  time 
in  which  the  attack  must  be  executed,  whether 
rapidly  (if  the  advent  of  reserve  force  must  under 
all  circumstances  be  avoided)  or  step  by  step;  in 
other  words,  it  determines  whether  we  should 
make  it  our  object  to  economize  in  time,  or  in 
material  force  at  our  disposal. 

The  surroundings  will,  in  part,  add  to  the  de- 
fensive strength  of  our  opponents,  and  in  part  take 
away  from  it.  Their  character  will  determine 
which  part  of  the  hostile  force  is  exposed  to  the 
effect  of  our  weapons,  and  which  is  shielded  ; 
where  we  can  advance  with  comparative  safety, 
and  which  part  of  the  ground  we  have  to  traverse 
rapidly,  in  other  terms,  which  are  weaknesses  to 
be  assailed,  and  which  our  strong  points  towards 
which  to  advance.  The  first  consideration  will 
tell  us  whether,  after  we  have  gained,  by  the 
methodical  destruction  of  the  obstacles  in  our  way, 
a  position  of  advantage,  we  are  able  to  destroy  or 
drive  away  the  opposing  force ;  or  whether  the 
object  of  our  attack,  if  obtained,  is  a  sufficient 
compensation  for  the  lives  sacrificed.  If,  in  any 
kind  of  fight,  the  rules  for  attack  are  laid  down, 
the  three  things  mentioned  must  be  studied. 

In  Chess  the  soldiers  are  the  men  and  the  gen- 
eral is  the  mind  of  the  player.      If  anything  that 


64 

is  subject  to  the  possibility  of  an  attack  be  a  weak 
point,  all  men,  and  especially  the  King  and  the 
heavy  pieces  (Queen  and  Rooks),  would  be  such ; 
we  shall,  howe\er,  call  a  weakness  only  such 
pieces,  or  group  of  pieces,  as  in  proportion  to 
their  importance,  have  a  defect  in  defensive 
strength,  for  instance  :  a  Queen,  that  has  only  a 
very  limited  range  of  action,  or  a  Pawn  that  can- 
not advance  nor  yet  be  protected  by  other  Pawns. 
A  weak  point  is  a  square — not  necessarily  occupied 
— which  can  only  be  attacked  by  heavy  pieces  like 
the  Queen  or  the  Rooks,  so  that  Pawns.  Knights 
and  Bishops,  or  eventually  also  Rooks,  protected 
by  other  men,  are  there  quite  safe.  Our  oppon- 
ent's weak  points  we  shall  name  strong  points, 
speaking  from  our  point  of  view.  If  we  can  oc- 
cupy a  strong  point  by  one  of  our  pieces,  which 
has  from  there  a  large  sphere  of  action,  the  battle 
is  often  half  decided  in  our  favor. 

Obstructions  in  Chess  are  pieces  of  minor  im- 
portance which  intercept  the  lines  of  action  of  our 
men.  It  is,  as  a  rule,  easier  to  remove  them  when 
they  are  hostile  men,  because  we  may  threaten 
them  by  so  many  of  our  own  pieces  that  we  can 
finally  safely  capture  them  ;  it  is  different  when, 
for  instance,  one  of  our  own  Pawns,  blocked  by 
one  of  the  Pawns  or  pieces  of  the  enemy,  stands 
in  our  way  ;  and  worse  still  when  this  Pawn  is 
isolated ;  the  only  way  of  removing  it  by  force 
consists  then  usually  in  placing  a  piece  under  the 
protection  of  this  Pawn,  and  forcing  the  exchange 
of  that  piece. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  initial  position.     The 


65 


ultimate  object  of  every  attack  in  Chess  is  given 
beforehand — it  is  the  capture  by  force  of  the  hos- 
tile King.  For  that  purpose  we  must  command 
nine  squares,  the  eight  around  the  King  and  the 
one  he  occupies ;  we  can  reduce  that  number  only 
by  driving  the  King  to  the  edge  of  the  board,  or 
by  forcing  his  own  pieces  to  obstruct  his  escape. 
Finally,  the  checkgiving  piece  must  not  be  liable 
to  capture,  nor  must  any  of  the  hostile  pieces  be 
able  to  intercept  its  line  of  attack.  This  is  the 
"work  to  be  done,"  and  it  is  enormous,  consider- 
ing the  large  amount  of  force  gifted  with  capacity 
to  capture  and  obstruct,  at  the  enemy's  disposal. 
This  task  is  still  made  more  difficult  l3y  the  other 
one  which  you  have  to  perform — to  protect  your 
own  King  against  your  opponent's  assaults. 

The  Chess  world  went  about  the  task  thus  vol- 
untarily undertaken,  and  attempted  to  solve  the 
problem  involved  by  the  humanly  most  direct 
method  ;  it  simply  tried  it,  piling  variation  on 
variation,  correcting  and  re-correcting  them,  for, 
say,  two  thousand  years.  Many  beautiful  games 
were  played,  and  startling  discpveries  made,  but 
the  real  problem  was  never  solved.  And  why, 
may  we  ask,  have  for  so  long  a  time  the  exertions 
of  the  best  brains  of  the  human  race  continually 
failed?  There  is  one  answer  whose  cogency  is 
irresistible,  an  answer  whose  truth  seems  to  be 
proved  by  experience  beyond  doubt,  viz.,  there  is 
no  solution,  and  for  this  reason,  the  resources  on 
each  side  are  so  evenly  balanced  that  the  trifling 
advantage  of  the  first  move  is  not  sufiicient  to 
force  the  defence  to  resignation. 


66 

This  admitted,  we  must  begin,  before  entering 
upon  our  task,  with  the  supposition  that  the  in- 
itial position  has  been  differentiated  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  win  of  the  game  becomes  possible 
to  the  one  or  other  party.  After  having  granted 
this  much  the  problem  is  transformed,  and  it  as- 
sumes the  following  shape  :  the  balance  of  posi- 
tion and  forces  has  at  least  been  partly  disturbed, 
and  to  checkmate  the  King  of  the  inferior  force 
becomes  a  feasible  achievement. 

Whether  a  nearly  balanced  position  allows  a 
forced  win  to  the  one  or  the  other  party  depends 
usually  on  the  slightest  differences,  so  much  so, 
indeed,  that  it  would  be  a  hopeless  undertaking  to 
search  for  certain  rules,  or  a  mathematical  formula 
that  would  give  you  its  solution  without  the  ap- 
plication of  intellectual  power  in  each  special  case. 
The  question  involved  is  of  such  a  complicated 
nature  that  the  only  way  to  obtain  an  answer  is 
to  divide  the  board  into  parts,  to  analyze  the  par- 
tial questions  by  the  experimental  method,  and  to 
finally  draw  the  sum  total  of  all  the  answers. 

Now,  given  a  position  in  Chess,  where,  on  the 
one  wing  (for  instance  the  K  side)  we  have  the 
superiority,  on  another  (the  Q  side,  or  the  centre) 
we  may  be  at  a  disadvantage,  but  where,  on  the 
whole,  onr  advantage  is  prevailing  ;  in  what  man- 
ner are  we  to  make  capital  out  of  that  superiority  ? 
The  answer  depends,  of  course,  on  the  analysis  of 
the  position;  but  if  this  analysis  is  methodical  it 
will  greatly  acquire  clearness  and  sharpness,  and 
the  mental  labor  required  will  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum. 


67 


The  moves  in  Chess  are  of  three  kinds,  they 
are  either 

(a)  Developing,  i.e.,  bringing  new  force  into 

play. 

(d)  Attacking,  i.e.,  making  pieces   threaten 

the  hostile  men,  give  a  check,  threaten  a 

checkmate,  etc  ,  in  other  words,  making 

pieces  do  something,  or  work, 

(c)   Serving  defensive  purposes,   i.e.  giving 

protection  to  a  weak  point,  obstructing 

an  important  line,  etc.,  in  other  words 

undoing  the  work  of  the  hostile  men. 

What  kind  of  move  is  required  is  determined 

by  the  exigencies  of  the  position.     If  you  have  a 

large  superiority  of  force  in  a  quarter  where  the 

enemy  has  important  weaknesses,  like  the  King 

or  the  Queen  in  a  bad  position,  etc.,  you  must 

assail  quickly.      Every  one  of  your  moves  must 

be  intended  to  do  much.    Your  reserve  force  must 

be  made  useful  for  the  attack  with  as  much  gain 

of  time  as  possible  —  by  attacking,  for  instance, 

some  weaknesses  while  on   the   way  —  and   the 

reserve  forces  of  the  opponent  must  be  kept  back, 

if  possible,  by  obstructions  that  you  can  place  in 

their  way  (think  of  Morphy's  Pawn  sacrifices  for 

that  purpose).       The  devices  are  manifold,  but 

the  variations,   on   account  of   the  many  forced 

moves  on  the  part  of  the  defence,  are  usually  few, 

and  therefore  subject  to  direct  analysis.     Of  such 

attacks  we  say  that  their  * '  pace ' '  is  quick. 

All  the  games  given  (especially  the  French  de- 
fence of  the  previous  lecture)  have  contained 
attacks  of  quick  pace.     Here  follows  another. 


Bl,ACK. 


m 


immm  m 


■AM 


^  P 


» 

M 


^rs^ 


^„^_^i 


White. 

The  game  (International  Tournament,  Amster 
dam)  went  on 

1.  Kt— R5  KtxKt 

2.  BxPch.  KxB 

3.  QxKtch.  K— Kt 

4.  BxP  KxB 

5.  Q— Kt4ch.  K— R2 

6.  R— B3  P— K4 

7.  R— R3ch.  Q— R3 

8.  RxQch.  KxR 

9.  Q— Q7  B— KB3 


69 


10. 

QXB 

K— Kt2 

11. 

R— KB 

QR— Kt 

12. 

Q-Q7 

KR-Q 

13. 

Q— Kt4cli. 

K— B 

14. 

PxP 

B— Kt2 

15. 

P— K6 

R— Kt2 

16. 

Q-Kt6 

P— B3 

17. 

RxPch. 

BxR 

18. 

QxBch. 

K— K 

19. 

Q— R8ch. 

K— K2 

20. 

Q— Kt7ch. 

aud  wins. 

When  your  superiority  is  not  clearly  defined, 
you  must  be  satisfied  with  attacking  in  a  moder- 
ate pace,  advancing  on  your  strong  points,  and 
methodically  creating  new  ones  near  your  op- 
ponent's line  of  defence  Then  \.\\q  plan  is  every- 
thing, and  the  time  a  matter  of  secondary  impor- 
tance (compare  the  3d,  4th,  5th  and  6th  game 
given  in  these  lectures).  Generally  the  **pace" 
of  your  attack  must  slacken  down,  the  less  pro- 
nounced your  advantage  is.  A  very  good  player 
will  seldom  give  you  opportunities  for  violent  and 
short  attacks,  which  require  an  amount  of  acting 
force  that  is  often  underrated. 


Some  of  Morphy's  games  : 

— 

1.     P— K4 

P— K4 

2.     P— KB4 

PxP 

3.     B— B4 

P-Q4 

4.     PxP 

B— Q3 

5.     Kt— QB3 

Kt— KB3 

6.     P-Q4 

Castles 

7.     KKt— K2 

P— B6 

70 
BI.ACK. 


Hi  i  mm     mm  i  fit  i 


^»  ^»      Q      ^^ 


i ^e. 


■  @Pi    ^ 


Wa^^-^WMM,        ^ii 

^      P«      W^  kWM 

'iM. i 


^^^^¥> *^ 


W:%M    %    WZ'^M^'^. 


wmi 


^M^^ 


V//77777/// ^?7777>7^;^ ^ W//////A 


Whits. 

The  White  King  stands  in  an  unobstructed  file, 
so  Morphy  sacrifices  his  Pawn  to  prevent  the 
King  from  castling  with  safety.  It  will  be  re- 
marked that  after  the  sacrifice  the  defensive  power 
of  the  White  KR  and  KB  Pawn  becomes  very 
weak,  both  of  these  Pawns  being  isolated. 


8.  PxP 

9.  P— KR4 


Kt— R4 


71 


It  would  have  been  better  to  defend  by  a  de- 
veloping move,  such  as  (9)  B — K3,  when  the  fol- 
lowing play  might  ensue  (9) ,  R — K;  (10) 

Q— Q2,  Q— K2;  (11)  Kt— K4,  B— KB4  ;  (12) 
B— y3. 

9 R— K 

10.  Kt— K4 

Occupying  one  of  White's  strong  points,  only  to  be 
attacked  by  tie  KBP  or  QB,  therefore  an  excel- 
lent obstruction. 

10 B— Kt6ch. 

11.  K— Q2  B— Q3 

12.  K-^B3 

Here  he  unnecessarily  exposes  himself  to  new 
dangers.  P — B3  would  have  provided  a  safe 
retreat  to  the  King. 

12 P— QKt4 

Quickly  opening  up  all  the  lines  on  the  side  which 
the  White  King  has  chosen  as  refuge. 

13.  BxP  P— QB3 

Now  he  threatens   Q — R4ch,  so  he  indirectly 

forces  White  to  remove  the  well  posted  Kt  from 
K4. 

14.  KtxB  QxKt 

15.  B— R4  B— R3 

16.  R— K  Kt— Q2 

17.  P— Kt3  Kt— Kt3 

18.  BxP  QR— B 


72 


Every  one  of  Black's  pieces  has  now  long  open 
files,  in  consequence  of  the  energetic  attacking 
manoeuvres  of  the  last  six  moves. 

19.  K— Q2 

Black  threatened  to  win  a  piece  by  Kt  or  Q 
takes  Pawn,  K — Kt2  would  have  lost  immed- 
iately on  account  of  (19) BxKt;    (20) 

RxB,  RxR;  (21)  QxR,  Kt—R5ch. ,  either  win- 
ning the  Queen  or  checkmating  the  King  in  the 
next  move  J 

19 RxB 

20.  PxR  BxKt 

21.  RxB  QxPch. 

22.  K— K  '  Q— KtSch. 

23.  ,K— Q2  R— Qch. 

24.  K— B3  Q— B4ch. 

25.  K-Kt2  Kt— R5ch. 

(26)  resigns,  for  if  PxKt,  Q— KtSmate;  if  K— 
Kt,  (26)  Kt—B6ch.,  winning  first  the  Queen  and 
then  the  Rook. 

His  famous  game  against  Paulsen  in  the  New 
York  Tournament  runs  as  follows  : 


White 

Black 

Paulsen 

Mcrphy 

1. 

P— K4 

P— K4 

2. 

Kt— KB3 

Kt— QB3 

3. 

Kt— B3 

Kt— B3 

4. 

B— Kt5 

B— B4 

5. 

Castles 

Castles 

6. 

KtxP 

R— K 

7. 

KtxKt 

73 


This  capture  only  develops  Black.  It  would 
have  been  quite  as  good  to  retire  with  the  Kt  to 

B3  and  to  follow  this  up,  if  (7) ,  KtxP  by 

(8)  P-Q4. 

7 QPxKt 

8.  B— B4  P— QKt4 

9.  B— K2 

The  Black  Pawns  by  thus  advancing  do  not  of 
course  gain  in  defensive  strength,  but  Black  is  so 
far  ahead  in  development  that  White  will  never 
be  able  to  take  advantage  of  that  weakness. 

9 KtxP 

10.  KtxKt  RxKt 

11.  B— B3 

If  here  (11)  P— QB3,  which  looks  at  first  sight 
stronger,  then  Black  will  assail  the  castled  King, 
which  for  the  present  is  the  only  support  of  the 
KR  and  KKt  Pawn.      The  game  mi^ht  proceed 

(11) ,   Q— R5;     (12)  P— KKt3,   Q~R6  ; 

(13)  B— B3,  R— R5  ;  (14)  PxR.  B— Q3  ;  or  (12) 
P— Q4,  B— 03;  (13)  P— KKt3,  Q— R6  ;  (14) 
P— KB4,  B— Q2;  (15)  B— B3,  R— K2  ;  when 
Black  will  double  his  Rooks  on  the  K  file  and 
obtain  a  sound  position  with  many  attacking 
possibilities. 

11 R— K3 

12.  P— B3 

A  somewhat  elaborate  process  for  so  simple  an 
object.     First,  P — Q3  was  the  proper  play. 

12 Q-Q6 


74 


This  is  one  of  the  rare  cases,  in  which  a  heavy- 
piece  hke  the  Queen  can  with  success  be  used  for 
the  purpose  of  obstruction.  The  Queen  cannot 
be  attacked  in  her  present  situation  by  any  hostile 
man  but  exerts  a  considerable  amount  of  pressure, 
preventing,  for  instance,  such  moves  as  Q — B2  or 
B— K2. 


13. 

P— QKt4 

B— Kt3 

14. 

P— QR4 

PxP 

16. 

QXP 

B-Q2 

16. 

R— R2 

This  move  may  serve  as  a  preparation  for  Q — B2. 
White  evidently  is  beginning  to  feel  the  restraint 
which  he  suffers  through  the  blockade  of  his  QP 
by  the  adverse  Queen.  His  plan,  however,  is  frus- 
trated by  Black,  whose  attack  has  already  become 
ripe  for  a  decisive  blow.     If  (16)  Q — R6  instead. 

Black's  best  reply  seems  to  be  (16) ,  Q — 

B4;  (17)  P— Q4,  QR— K  ;  (18)  B— K3,  P— 
QB4;  (19)  KtPxP,  BxP  ;  (20)  Q— R5.?,  R— 
KKt3,  with  a  winning  advantage,  for  if  (21)  K — 
R,  QxB,  (22)  PxQ,  B— B3,  leaves  White  help- 
less ;  therefore  Whitens  best  would  be  (20)  Q — 
K2,  B— Kt3;  (21)  B— Kt4,  RxB;  (22)  BxQ, 
RxQ;    (23)BxB  with  an  even  ending. 

16 ■  QR— K 

The  strongest  move  for  development  and  simul- 
taneously for  attack .  Black  threatens  now  Q X  Rch . 

17.     Q— R6 


75 

Black. 


■   IMHiHi 


V/////////.  V////////A 

y////^iy//.      _      m 


Wfi. 


1    » 


1 '"mm. 


"^^      '^§i     ^  ^  PR 


i@l 


White. 

17 QxB 

An  effective,  surprising,  and  beautiful  coup. 
18.     PxQ  R— KtSch. 


19.     K— R 


B— R6 


Black  threatens  B— Kt7ch.,  followed  by  BxP 
mate.  R — KKt  is  no  safeguard,  as  after  the  ex- 
change of  the  Rooks  the  QR  will  checkmate  him. 
Nor  would  (20)  Q — Q3  mend  matters,  as  Black 
will  answer  with  P— KB4,  and  if  then  (21)  Q— - 
B4ch.,  by  K— B. 


76 


20.  R— Q  B— KtTch. 

21.  K— Kt  BxPch. 

22.  K— B  B— KtTch. 

He  might  have  decided  the  issue  by  R — Kt7,  with 
the  double  threat  RxPch.,  etc.,  and  RxRP. 

23.  K— Kt  B— R6ch. 

24.  K— R  BxP 

25.  Q— B 

His  only  resource. 

25 BxQ 

26.  RxB  R— K7 

Again  binding  the  hostile  QP  to  his  post. 

27.  R— R  R— R3 

28.  P— Q4 

At  last  ! 

28 B— K6 

29.  Resigns,  for  if  (29)  BxB,  R  (R3) 
xPch.  (30)  K— Kt,  R— Kt7 
checkmate. 

Let  us  now  pass  over  to  more  recent  times. 


White. 
Anderssen. 

Black. 
Steinitz. 

1.  P— K4 

2.  Kt— KB3 

3.  B— Kt5 

4.  P— Q3 

5.  BxKtch, 

P— K4 
Kt— QB3 
Kt— B3 
P— Q3 

This  exchange  is  decidedly  uncalled  for.     Black* s 
QR  gains  thereby  an  open  file,  as  well  as  the  QB. 


77 


White  has  no  compensation  whatever ;  for  to 
speak  in  the  early  stage  of  a  game  of  the  weak- 
ness of  a  double  Pawn  or  an  isolated  Pawn  for  end 
game  purposes  is  nothing  but  a  chimera. 

5 PxB 

6.     P— KR3  P— Kt3 

Black  has  already  the  advantage,  and  can  there- 
fore afford  to  lose  a  move  for  development,  which 
will  later  on  support  his  plan  of  attack. 

7.  Kt— B3  B— KKt2 

8.  Castles  Castles 

9.  B— Kt5  P— KR3 
10.  B— K3  P— B4 

An  excellent  coup.  Black's  plan,  as  will  be  seen, 
is  to  make  the  fighting  on  the  K  side  with  his 
Pawns  ;  he  therefore  keeps  the  White  QP  back, 
to  preserve  the  obstructions  in  the  centre. 

11.     R— Kt 

It  would  have  been  much  more  to  the  interest  of 
White  to  forestall  the  imminent  attack,  for  in- 
stance, by  (11)  Q— Q2,  K— R2  ;  (12)  P— KKt4, 
Kt— Kt ;    (13)  Kt— R2,  P— B4  ;    (14)  P— B3. 


11. 

Kt— K 

12. 

P— QKt4 

PxP 

18. 

RxP 

P-QB4 

14. 

R— R4 

B-Q2 

15. 

R— R3 

P— B4 

The  White  K  Pawn,  which  intercepts  the  B  file 
from  QB3,  blocks  the  KP  and  holds  back  the  QP, 
dare  not  be  removed.  It  is,  therefore,  an  excel- 
lent object  of  attack. 


78 


16.  Q— Kt  K— R 

17.  Q— Kt7  P— QR4 

18.  R— Kt  P— R5 

19.  Q-Q5  Q-B 

White's  game  suffers  of  want  of  design.  There 
is  no  possible  object  in  all  this  manoeuvring  of  the 
heavy  pieces.  His  policy  should  have  bten  one 
of  defence,  which  he  might  conduct  on,  the 
Kt — R2,  P — KB3  a.s.o. ,  and  perhaps  successfully. 

20.  R— KtG  R— R2 

In  order  to  have  his  Queen  free  for  the  following 

threat  (21) P— B5  ;    (22)  B— Q2,  BxP ; 

(23)  PxB,  QxP  ;    (24)  Kt— R2,  P— B6,  etc. 

21.  K— R2  P— B5 

22.  B— Q2  P— Kt4: 

23.  Q-B4  Q-Q 

24.  R— Kt  Kt— B3 

25.  K— Kt  Kt— R2 

The  RP  shall  advance  and  then  the  KtP,  to  be 
followed  by  Kt — Kt4,  where  the  Kt  will  have  in 
conjunction  with  his  advanced  Pawns,  a  command- 
ing sway.  Mark  how  carefully  all  this  is  prepared. 
No  strong  point  is  left  to  the  White  party  in  the 
rear  of  the  Black  Pawns,  nor  in  front  of  them, 
during  the  whole  of  the  tedious  process. 

P— R4 
P— Kt5 
PxP 
Q— R5 
Kt— Kt4 
Q~R7 


26. 

K— B 

27. 

Kt— Kt 

28. 

PxP 

29. 

P— B3 

30. 

Kt— Q 

31. 

B—K 

79 


Black. 


White. 
Here  we  have  the  beau  ideal  of  the  concluding 
stages  of  a  King  side  attack  supported  by  a  chain 
of  Pawns.  If  PxP,  all  the  lines  are  opened  by 
P — B6  with  tremendous  effect.  White  cannot 
much  improve  his  position,  as  his  pieces  have  no 
space  to  execute  any  movements.  So  Black  has 
any  amount  of  time  to  prepare  the  finishing  stroke. 

32.  P— Q4:  PxBP 

33.  KtPxP  Kt— R6 

34.  B— B2  KtxKt 

35.  PxBP 


80 


Of  course,  if  (35)  BxKt,  B— R6ch,  wins. 
35 Q—RGch. 

36.  K— K 

or  (36)  KxKt,  B— KB3  the  White  King  being 
quite  helpless. 

36 KtxPch. 

37.  RxKt  QxR 
and  Black  won  easily  a  few  moves  later. 

Do  not  overlook  how  the  apparently  unimport- 
ant sixth  move  on  the  part  of  White  was  the  real 
reason  of  all  the  trouble  that  he  had  to  undergo 


'^^^^-       Whitk. 

Black. 

Steinitz. 

Zuckertort. 

1.     B— K4 

P— K4 

2.     Kt— KB3 

Kt— QB3 

3.     P-Q4 

PxP 

4.     KtxP 

Kt— B3 

According   to   our   rules 

this   should 

strongest   reply.       It   certainly   is   a   mov 

answers  all  purposes. 

5.     Kt— QB3 

B— Kt5 

6.     KtxKt 

KtPxKt 

7.     B— Q3 

P-Q4 

8.     PxP 

PxP 

9.     Castles 

Castles 

10.     B     KKt5 

P— B3 

11.     Kt— K2 

B— Q3 

12.     Kt— Kt3 

be  the 
e  that 


The  Kt  occupies  a  square  which  White  would  do 
better  to  reserve  for  the  Bishop.  (12)  Kt — Q4 
seems  therefore  preferable. 

12 P— KR8 

13.     B— Q2 


81 
Black. 


■JM, 


<^^^A 


^ 


■  i 


■"i 


.1*1 


W      ill 


^^/^~« 


•i«f- 


^P        ^P  di  1 


;  Am AM    B AS 


^  ^  ^^  ^  ^^.         i 


White. 


13. 


Kt— Kt5 


Excellent  !  Black  now  threatens  Q — R5.  If 
White  replies  by  (14)  P— KR3,  then  KtxP  ;  (14) 
KxKt,  Q— R5;    (15)  Q— B3,  P— KE4  winning. 

14.  B— K2  Q~R5 

15.  BxKt  BxB 

16.  Q— B  B— K7 

What  he  purposes  with  this  is  not  very  clear. 
He  ought  to  strike  hard  while  White  is  yet  behind 
in  the  development  of  his  Rooks,  thus;    (16) 


82 


,  P— KB4: ;     (17)  B— B4,   B— B4 ;      (18) 

R— K,  P— KKt4;  (19)  B— K3,  BxB  ;  (20) 
PxB,  P — B5,  with  an  excellent  attack;  or  even 
(16)  B — Q2  will  give  him  a  lasting  attack,  difi&- 
cult  to  meet. 

17.  R— K^  B— R3 

18.  B— B3  P— KB4 

19.  R— K8  QR— Q 

20.  Q-Q2 

Now  he  threatens  Q — Q4,  or  the  doubling  of 
the  Rooks  on  the  open  file ;  but  mark  how  finely 
Black  frustrates  all  this. 

20 P— Q5 

21.  B— R5 

Of  course  he  cannot  take  the  Pawn  without 
losing  a  piece. 

21 R— Q2 

22.  RxB  RxR 

23.  B— Kt4  Q— B3 

24.  R— Q  R— Q4 

25.  BxR  QxB 

26.  Kt— R5  Q— K 

27.  Kt— B4  R— K4 

Black  is  first  to  take  the  open  file — a  great  ad- 
vantage, which  White  should  not  have  yielded  at 
move  26.  gg.     P— KR4  P— B4 

29.  P— R5 

This  manoeuvre  with  the  RP,  which  shall  make 
the  position  of  the  Kt  unassailable,  is  misplaced. 
The  RP  exposes  itself  only  to  the  attack  of  the 
Bishop.      29 R— K6 

30.  P— QB3 


83 


This  unnecessary  advance  is  the  principal  rea- 
son of  the  speedy  conclusion  that  follows.  Black's 
play  from  now  to  the  end  is  admirably  consistent 
and  strong. 


30 

31.  P— KKt3 

32.  Kt— Kt6 

33.  Kt— B4 

34.  P— Kt3 

Q— Kt 
Q-K4 

Q-Q3 

P-Q6 

If  (34)  KtxP,  BxKt;    (35)  QxB,  R— K8ch., 
wins  the  Rook  or  Queen. 

34 P— B5 

35.  R— Kt                  K— R2 

36.  K— R2                 Q— QKt3 
First  rate ;    he  now  threatens  R — K7. 

37.  K— Kt 

38.  R— Kt2 

39.  P— B3 

40.  Q— B2 

41.  K— R2 

B— Kt2 
Q— B3 
Q— B4ch. 
R— K8ch. 

or  (41)  K— Kt2,  R— K6. 

41 

42.     RxQ 

QxQ 

BxP 

Decisive.     The  QP  must  now  win. 

43.     P— KKt4             B— K7 

and  Black  won  a  few  moves  later. 

If  we  glance  critically  over 
we  find  two  rules  confirmed : 

the  games  given, 

(i.)  Don't  attack  unless  you  have  some  tang- 
ible superiority,  either  in  the  stronger  working  of 
your  pieces,  or  in  longer  reach. 

Corollary  :   If  you  do  the  re-action  will  place 

84 

your  army  in  a  critical  position,  and  the  inevit- 
able counter  attack  will  find  you  in  disorder. 

(ii.)  Let  it  be  the  first  object  of  your  attack  to 
create  strong  points  as  near  your  opponent's  camp 
as  possible,  and  occupy  them  with  pieces  which 
have  from  there  a  large  field  of  action. 

Corollary  :  Try  to  force  your  opponent's  Pawns 
to  advance  on  the  side  where  you  attack. 

White.  Black. 

Dr.  Noa.  Dr.  Tarrasch. 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt— KB3  Kt— QB3 

3.  B— Kt5  Kt— B3 

4.  Castles  KtxP 

5.  R— K  Kt— Q3 

6.  B— R4  B— K2 

7.  KtxP  KtxKt 

8.  RxKt  Castles 

Now  Black's  development  is  excellent,  and  the 
Pawn  position  unassailable. 

9.  P-Q4  Kt— B5 

10.  R— K  P— Q4: 

11.  P— QB3 

White  has  no  time  for  such  amove.  (11)  B — 
Kt3,  Kt— R4;  (12)  Kt— B3,  KtxB  ;  (13)  RPx 
B.  B— Q3;  (14)  Q— B3,  P— QB3  ;  (15)  B— B4, 
is  a  sounder  line  of  play. 

11 B— KB4 

Immediately  bearing  down  on  the  weak  points  of 
White,  Q3,  QB2. 


86 


12.  Kt— Q2  KtxKt 

13.  BxKt  B— Q3 

14.  Q— R5  B— Kt3 

15.  Q— R3 

This  manoeuvre  has  not  much  point.  (14)  B — 
QB2  is  more  to  the  purpose. 

15 P— QB3 

From  here  to  the  end  Black's  play  is  simply 
classical.  Mark  how  how  finely  Black  will  com- 
bine the  advantage  resulting  from  the  weak  posi- 
tion of  the  White  Queen,  the  slight  weakness  con- 
tained in  the  loose  and  ineffective  positions  of  the 
White  Bishops,  his  own  strongly  posted  QB,  and 
the  lack  of  protection  of  the  White  QKtP  for  a 
highly  logical  and  successful  attack. 

16.  R— K2  Q— Kt3 

17.  B— Kt3  P— QR4 

Capital !  Developing  the  QR,  dislodging  the 
obstruction,  and  keeping  the  QKtP  in  its  unsafe 
position. 

18.  B— K3  P— R5 

19.  B— Q  KR—K 

20.  R— B  P— KB4 
Grand  !    He  forces  White  to  advance  either  the 

KKtP  or  KBP.  In  the  latter  case  K5  becomes  a 
very  strong  point,  in  the  former  the  Q  is  ob- 
structed, and  the  P  position  weakened. 

21.  P— KB4  R— K2 

22.  QR— B2  QR— K 

23.  B— B  Q— Kt4 
preventing  Q — Q3,   and  again  bearing  down  on 
the  central  weak  points  of  the  White  game. 


86 


24.  Q— B3  Q— B5 

25.  P— QR3  R— K5 

26.  P— KKt3  P— B4 

To  get  his  reserve  force,  the  KB,  into  play. 

27.  RxR  BPxR 

28.  Q— K3  Q— Q6 

29.  QxQ  PxQ 

30.  R— B2  P— Kt4 
31      B— Q2  B— K2      ., 

32.  P— B5  B— B2 

33.  R— B  PxP 

34.  PxP  B— B3 

35.  B— QB3  R— K5 

36.  B~B3  BxPch. 

37.  K— Kt2 

A  mistake.     (37)  BxB,  RxB  ;    (38)  R— Q  is  by 
far  the  preferable  policy. 

37 BxB 

Energetic  and  decisive,  but  not  very  difficult  to 
forsee. 

38.  BxR  PxB 

39.  PxB  B— KtG 

and  White  resigns,  for  after  (40)  K— B2,  P— Q7; 
(41)  K^K2,  B~B5ch.  he  will  lose  his  Rook. 

One  of  my  Match  Games  of  1892. 


White. 

Black. 

Lasker. 

Blackburne. 

1.     P-Q4 

P-Q4 

2.     Kt— KB3 

Kt— KB3 

3.     P— B4 

P— K3 

4.     Kt— B3 

QKt-Q2 

5.     B— B4 

P— B3 

87 


On  account  of  the  last  move  which  is  more  or  less 
forced  (not  to  allow  QKt — Kt5)  the  development 
chosen  by  Black  is  not  advisable. 


6. 

P— K3 

Kt— R4 

7. 

B     Kt5 

B— K2 

8. 

BxB 

QxB 

9. 

B— Q3 

P— KKt3 

.0. 

Q— K2 

Castles 

1. 

Castles  K  side 

P— KB4 

Attacks  on  the  K  side  in  this  opening  have  usual  - 
ly  little  hope  of  success.  An  inspection  of  the 
position  will  show  that  the  K  side  does  not  pre- 
sent weaknesses  that  could  be  assailed.  The  fight 
is,  therefore,  in  the  centre  and  on  the  Q  side. 

12.  KR— Q  QKt— B3 

13.  QR— B  B— Q2 

14.  Kt— K5  BK 

15.  Q— B2 

Black  has,  with  his  11th  move,  stopped  the  ad- 
vance of  the  White  KP.  The  White  Q  is  there- 
fore now  available  for  the  Q*s  wing. 


15. 

R-Q 

16. 

P— QR3 

Kt-Q2 

17. 

Kt— B3 

Kt— Kt2 

18. 

R— K 

White  intends  a  Q  side  attack ;  and,  therefore, 
makes  first  preparations  to  take  advantage  of  any 
forward  movement  that  Black  might  undertake  on 
the  K  side,  beginning  with  P — B5. 

18.     Kt— B3 

19.  P— QKt4  Kt— K5 

20.  Kt— K5  KtxKt 


21.  QxKt  Kt— R4 

22.  P— QR4  Kt— B3 

23.  P— Kt5  Kt— Q2 

24.  Kt— B3  PxBP 

White  threatened  now  P — B5,  followed  by  P — 
R5  and  P — R6,  to  establish  a  dangerous  passed 
Pawn  at  B5. 

25.  QxP  Kt— Kt3 

26.  Q— Kt3  PxP 

27.  PxP  B— B2 

28.  Kt— K5  R— B 

29.  R— R 

The  object  of  White's  attack  was  to  keep  the 
QRP  back,  which  is  now  indefensible. 

29 R— R 

30.  R— K2  KR— B 

31.  KR— R2  Q~B2 

32.  P— Kt3  Q— B6 

33.  QxQ  RxQ 

34.  RxP  RxR 

35.  RxR  R— B2 

The  attack  has  now  succeeded.  White  has  the 
advantage  of  a  Pawn  plus  on  the  K  side.  What 
remains  is  to  convert  this  into  positional  super- 
iority— not  an  easy  process,  as  still  there  are  hard- 
ly any  assailable  points  in  the  Black  camp. 

36.  K— B  B— K 

37.  K— K2  K— B 

38.  K— Q2  K— K2 

39.  R— R3  K— Q3 

40.  P— B3  R— B 

41.  P— K4  R— B2 


89 


42. 

R— R 

R— B 

43. 

P— R4 

R— B2 

44. 

R-QKt 

R— S3 

R— B 

45. 

K— K2 

46. 

P— R5 

The  decisive  manoeuvre.  If  the  P  is  taken,  the 
two  isolated  RPs  will  be  a  splendid  object  of  at- 
tack, well  worth  the  sacrifice. 

46 K— B3 

47.  PxP  PxP 

48.  R— KR  K— Kt2 

Here,  after  some  manoeuvres  to  complete  the 
third  hour  (we  played  eighteen  moves  an  hour) 
the  game  went  on  at  move  55,  the  position  being 
unchanged. 

55.  P— Kt4  PxKtP 

56.  PxP  R— QR 

57.  P— Kt5 


threatening  Kt— Kt4— 

B6. 

And  so  on. 

57 

R— R6 

58.     K— Q2 

R— R7ch. 

59.     K— K3 

R— R6 

60.     K— B4 

Kt— Q2 

61.     B— B4 

Kt— B 

62.     R— QB 

The  finishing  stroke. 

The  Rook  will  now  enter 

via  B7  into  the  Black  camp. 

.    62 

R— R4 

63.     B— Q3 

BxP 

64.     R— B5 

and  White  won  easily. 

No.  9 

Gentlemen, — The  principles  of  defence  will  be 
the  subject  of  out  lecture  to-night. 

If  the  attack  is  the  process  through  which  ob- 
structions are  brought  out  of  the  way,  the  defence 
is  the  art  of  strengthening  them,  of  giving  firm- 
ness to  your  position,  and  of  averting  the  blow 
directed  against  you.  When  your  position  is  not 
inferior  to  that  of  your  opponent,  and  he  never- 
theless makes  preparations  to  attack  you,  disre- 
gard them  altogether,  develop  reserve  forces, 
avoid  his  attack  by  the  slightest  defensive  move- 
ment possible  (like  a  first-rate  boxer,  who  in  the 
nick  of  time  and  with  an  almost  imperceptible 
movement  evades  the  blow)  and  institute  a  quick 
counter  action.  When  you,  however,  have  been 
unfortunate  enough  to  compromise  yourself,  to 
give  your  opponent  an  undeniable  reason  for, 
and  tangible  object  of  attack  (which  may  occur 
to  the  best  and  most  cautious  player,  as  the  result 
of  an  unsuccessful  attack)  you  have  to  act  very 
differently. 

Also  here  common  sense  tells  us  exactly  how  to 
proceed.  Every  position  will  comprise  points 
which  are  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  hostile 
forces  and  other  points  which  are  well  guarded. 
An  attack  will  direct  itself  in  the  first  instance 


91 

against  your  weakest  points — for  instance  against 
the  KRP  and  KKtP  after  Castling,  or  against  a  Kt 
at  B3,  etc.  You  will,  therefore,  first  of  all,  vacuate 
these  points,  if  they  are  occupied  by  men  of  great 
importance,  the  Queen,  or  Rook,  for  instance,  and 
also  frequently  a  Knight  and  a  Bishop;  secondly, 
you  will  have  to  give  them  support;  place  the 
support  in  points  which  are  not  easily  accessible 
by  the  enemy.  The  rest  of  your  army  is  best  em- 
ployed in  engaging  the  reserve  force  of  the  enemy 
— that  is,  such  force  which  it  will  take  him  time 
and  labor  to  utilize  for  the  purposes  of  his  attack. 

The  object  of  your  opponent's  attack  is,  gener- 
ally speaking,  to  change  the  position  of  your  men 
in  a  certain  quarter  by  force.  Abstain  from 
changing  it  voluntarily,  except  for  most  forcible 
reasons.  This  is  where  most  chess  players  fail. 
In  order,  for  instance,  to  avoid  the  approach  of  a 
Kt  or  Bishop  to  Kt5,  they  advance  the  RP  to  R3, 
losing  a  move,  and  besides,  as  a  general  rule,  im- 
pairing the  strength  for  purposes  of  defence  of  the 
chain  of  Pawns  on  the  wing  ;  or  they  advance  the 
KKt  Pawn  to  Kt3,  to  drive  a  Kt  away  posted  at 
KB4,  which,  howeve:  well  placed,  is  usually  not 
half  as  dangerous  as  this  move  ;  or  they  retire  a 
piece,  because  it  may  be  driven  away.  Wait  with 
all  such  moves  until  your  antagonist  has  expended 
some  time,  material  position,  etc. — well,  call  it, 
taken  altogether,  some  of  the  ''power"  at  his 
disposal — on  them. 

For  the  rest  your  defensive  movements  must,  of 
course,  be  subservient  to  the  objects  of  the  en- 


92 


emy's  attack.  You  may,  therefore,  revert  the 
rules  for  attack  ;  let  it  be  your  object  to  prevent 
your  opponent  from  creating  strong  points  very 
near  your  line  of  defence.  That  comprises  every- 
thing, as  we  shall  see  in  the  instances  that  are  to 
follow. 


1. 

P— K4 

P— K4 

2. 

Kt— KB3 

Kt— QB3 

3. 

P-Q4 

PxP 

4. 

KtxP 

Kt— KB3 

5. 

KtxKt 

KtPxKt 

6. 

B-Q3 

P— Q4 

7. 

P— K5 

Black  has  followed  up  to  this  point  the  rules  of 
development.  He  has  given  to  White  no  object  of 
attack,  none  of  his  pieces  being  in  a  weak  posi- 
tion. White's  attacking  manoeuvre  is  therefore 
premature. 

7 Kt— Kt5 

8.  Castles  B~-QB4 

9.  P— KR3 

Now  follows  a  clever  stroke,  which  shows  how 
unsound  all  White's  play  has  been. 


9. 

Kt 

xKP 

10. 

R- 

-K* 

-B3 

11. 

Q- 

-K2 

Castles 

12. 

QxKt 

QxPch. 

13. 

K- 

-R 

BxRP 

14. 

PxB 

Q- 

-B6ch, 

15. 

K- 

-R2 

B- 

-Q3 

and  Black  wins. 

1.  P— K4  p— k:4 

2.  Kt— KB3  Kt~QB3 

3.  P— Q4  PxP 

4.  B— B4  B— B4 

5.  Castles  Kt— KB3 

(5) P — Q3  would  be  more  in  conform- 
ity with  our  rules.  The  next  move  is  slightly 
inferior,  and  gives  White  the  opportunity  to  a 
violent  onslaught,  which,  however,  in  the  face 
of  Black's  splendid  development,  fails  against  the 
best  line  of  defence. 

6.  P— K5  P— Q4 

The  right  reply.     To  remove  the  Kt  would  be 

vastly  inferior.     If,  for  instance  (6) Kt — 

K5;  (7)  B — Q5  would  disorganize  Black's  game; 

and  if  (6) Kt— Kt5  ;   (7)  BxPch.,  KxB  ; 

(8)  Kt— Kt5ch.,  might  follow. 

7.  PxKt  PxB 

8.  R— Kch.  B— K3 

9.  Kt— Kt5  Q— Q4: 

NotQ— Q2,  as  (10)  KtxB,  PxKt;  (11)  Q— 
R5ch.,  would  allow  White  to  gain  the  KB. 

10.  Kt— B3  Q— B4 

11.  P— KKt4  Q— Kt3 

Black  must  not  take  the  KBP,  as  White  would 
answer  with  (12)  Kt— Q5,  Q— Q  ;  (13)  RxBch., 
PxR;  (14)  KtxP.  Now  Black  threatens  to 
Castle  Q  side  with  a  magnificent  game,  as  White 
through  his  attacking  manceuvres  has  vastly  im- 
paired the  solidity  of  his  position. 


94 


12. 

QKt— K4 

B— Kt3 

13. 

P— KB4 

Castles  Q  side 

14. 

P— B5 

BxP 

15. 

PXB 

QxP 

At  last  White  has  recouped  himself  in  material, 
but  at  what  an  expense  !  He  is  three  Pawns  be- 
hind, his  King  is  in  a  totally  unsafe  position,  his 
enemy  is  brilliantly  developed,  and  the  QP  and 
QBP,  far  advanced  and  well  protected,  are  ready 
for  decisive  action  whenever  the  slightest  oppor- 
tunity is  offered.     All  this  for  a  minor  piece. 


16. 

PxP 

KR— K 

17. 

Kt— Kt3 

P— Q6ch. 

18. 

B— K3 

PxBch. 

19. 

RXB 

Q— B4 

or  QxKt  winning.  Similar  conclusions  follow  in 
in  any  variations  that  White  may  choose  after 
move  13.  Therefore  let  us  go  back  to  that  posi- 
tion, and  vary  the  attack. 

13.     KtxBP 

A  bold  sacrifice,  to  maintain  the  attack.  If  K  or 
Q  takes  Kt,  Kt — Kt5,  will  regain  the  piece  with 
an  excellent  position.  If  BxKt,  White  must  be 
satisfied  with  driving  the  King  into  a  somewhat 
exposed  position  by  (14)  PxP,  QxP  ;  (15)  Kt— 
B6ch.,  K— Q;  (16)  Q— B3  with  good  attacking 
possibilities  against  the  exposed  King.  Black, 
however,  has  just  as  bold  a  reply,  which  utterly 
turns  the  tables  and  gives  him  the  attack  against 
the  weakened  K  side  of  White. 


96 
BI.ACK. 


11  i  111    H^ll  i 


^'''mmf'-\ ^ 


iB 


^..•,  B 


i  A  ■      M      pi 

m^ '////////>Z', '>y//////?Z'. 


1 


White. 

13 Castles 

Now,  at  once  all  of  the  White  pieces  become 
badly  placed,  and  must  speedily  return  to  their 
camp.     The  tide  turns  and  the  reaction  sets  in. 

14.  KKt— Kt5  B— Q4 

15.  PxP  KR— K 

16.  Kt— Kt3  P— KR3 

17.  Kt— R3  Kt— K4 

and  Black  should  win  ;   or  perhaps  more  effect- 
ively, 


RxR 
R— K 
Kt— K4 
Q-B3 

P- 

Kt- 

-K4 
-QB3 

96 

17 

18.  QxR 

19.  Q-Q 

20.  Kt— B4 

with  a  brilliant  attack. 

1.  P— K4 

2.  Kt— KB3 

3.  P— QB3 
The  Ponziani  opening.  I  cannot  recommend  it  to 
you  on  account  of  the  questionable  early  advance 
of  the  QB  Pawn  which  it  involves. 

3 P-Q4 

An  excellent  answer.  By  his  third  move  White 
has  weakened  the  square  Q3 ;  so  Black  tries  to 
open  the  Q  file,  to  get  possession  of  that  very 
important  point. 

4.  Q— R4  PxP 

5.  KtxP  Q— 04 

6.  B— Kt5  KKt— K2 

7.  P— KB4 

This  is  the  move  given  by  Staunton.  It  is  in- 
tended to  keep  up  the  attack,  which  by  the  ex- 
change of  the  minor  pieces  would  be  utterly  lost. 
White  threatens  now  B — B4,  and  Staunton  lets 
Black,  therefore,  reply  by  PxP  e.p.  A  fine  Liver- 
pool player,  looking  at  the  position  with  the  in- 
stinct of  a  true  chess  player,  thought  that  there 
must  be,  against  such  precipitate  attack  as  White 
has  undertaken,  a  better  reply.  And  this  is  how 
he  defeated  one  of  his  opponents  in  a  match  game. 
7 B— Q2 

8.  KtxB  KxKt 

9.  Caiitles  Kt— B4 


97 


Black  has  by  far  the  better  development,  and 
now  threatens  B — B4ch. 


10.     P— QKt4 

P— QR4 

11.     K— R 

PxP 

12.     BxKtch. 

PxB 

13.     QxR 

B— B4 

14.     QxR 

Kt— Kt6ch. 

15.     PxKt 

Q — R4checkmate. 

White.    ' 

Black. 

Blackburne. 

Burn. 

1.     P— K4 

P— K3 

2.     P— Q4 

P— Q4 

3.     Kt— QB3 

Kt— KB3 

4.     P— K5 

KKt~Q2 

5.     P— B4 

P-QB4 

6.     PxP 

BxP 

7.     Q— Kt4 

Castles 

8.     B— Q3 

P— B4 

9.     Q— R3 

Kt— QB3 

10.     Kt— B3 

R— K 

Black  is  evidently  preparing  his  K  side  for  a 
long  siege.  His  last  move  answers  that  purpose 
excellently.  The  Rook  vacates  the  square  KB 
for  the  Kt,  which  is  there  quite  secure,  and  gives 
his  support  to  the  weakest  point,  the  KRP,  besides 
to  K3  and  to  Kt3,  and  is  always  ready  to  obstruct 
the  KKt  file. 

11.  P— KKt4  P— KKt3 

12.  P— QR3 

One  of  those  harmless  looking  moves,  to  pre- 
vent something  that  really  is  no  threat  at  all. 
Those  superfluous  defensive  moves  spoil  many  a 


game.    Why  not  at  once  Q — Kt3,  and  then  a  vig- 
orous advance  of  the  KRP  ? 

12 B— QKB- 

13.  B— Q2  P— QKt4 

14.  PxP  KtPxP 

15.  Castles  QR  Kt~B 

16.  R— Ktch. 

A  bold  and  promising  sacrifice,  which  yields  a 
violent  attack  very  difficult  to  meet. 
16 BxR 

17.  RxBch.  Kt— Kt3 

18.  Kt— K2  R— R2 

Again  an  excellent  defensive  manoeuvre.  The 
Rook  protects  several  of  the  weakest  points,  and 
can  be  used  as  a  means  of  obstructing  the  open 
KKtfile.  19.     Kt— Kt3  KR— K2 

20.  Kt— R5  K— R 

21.  Kt— B6  R— KKt2 

22.  Q— R6  Kt— B 

23.  Kt— Kt5 

Black  is  practically  out  of  danger,  but  must  yet 
play  very  carefully.  White  intends  now  to  con- 
tinue with  (24)  QxRch.,  RxQ  ;  (25)  Kt— B7ch. 
RxKt;    (26)  R— Kt8  mate. 

23 R— Kt3 

24.  Q— R5  QR— KKt2 

25.  R— Kt3  Q— K2 
Another  protection  to  the  KRP.     White's  attack 
slackens  down  because  his  two  Bishops  cannot 
find  an  opening  to  add  their  weight  to  it. 

26.  B— K2         RxKt 
vigorous  and  decisive. 


99 

27.  PxR  QxBP 

28.  R— QB3  B— Q2 

29.  Kt— B3  K— Kt 

White  threatened  RxKt,  followed   by  B— QB3. 

30.  Q— R3  Kt— Kt3 

31.  Q— R6  Q— K2 

32.  RxKt  BxR 

A   last    attempt   to  neutralize   Black's   material 
superiority  by  attack. 

33.  B— B3  R— B2 

34.  Kt— Kt5  KtxP 

35.  KtxR  KtxBch. 

36.  K— Q2  KtxB 
and  Black  won  after  a  few  more  moves. 

Black  .  — Steinitz. 


White  .  — I^asker. 


100 

The  annexed  position  occured  in  my  match 
with  Mr.  Steinitz ;  White  to  move.  I  played  some- 
what hastily. 

1.  R— B 

being  under  the  impression  that  KtxR  would 
lead  to  a  draw  by  perpetual  check.  This  is,  how- 
ever (as,  I  believe,  first  pointed  out  by  Tschigorin) 
not  the  case  ^.^.,  (1)  KtxR,  Q— Kt8ch.;  (2) 
K— Q2,  QxPch.;  (3)  K— Q,  Q— Kt6ch.;  (4)  K— 
K2,  Q— B5ch;  (5)  K— K!  QxPch.;  (6)  B— Q2, 
Q— R8ch.;  (7)  K— K2,  and  White  should  easily 
win. 

1 Q-B7 

2.  B— Q2  R— K2 

3.  Kt— K6  QxPch. 

Here  White  must  be  extremely  careful  in  select- 
ing his  reply.  If  he  plays  the  plausible  (4)  K — 
Q,  Q-Kt8ch;  (5)  B-B,  Kt-Q6  ;  (6)  QxQP, 
KtxPch;  (7)  K— K2,  Q— K4ch;  (8)  B— K3, 
QxBch.,  equalizing  the  material  forces,  and  with 
good  chances  for  a  draw. 

4.  Q— K3  QxKtP 

Now  follows  a  very  important  manoeuvre,  the 
key  to  White's  defence. 

5.  P— Kt3 

1^5)  Q — K2  instead,  Black  will  answer  by 
Q — Q4,  and  have  all  the  Q  side  at  his  own  dis- 
posal. 

5 R— K 


101 


To  take  the  RP  would  not  be  sufficient  to  keep 
the  balance  of  forces ;  White  would  reply  with 
K — Q  or  P — Kt5,  and  very  soon  be  able  to  as- 
sume the  attack. 

6.  Q— K2  Q— R6 

The  first  symptom  of  the  gradual  exhaustion 
of  Black's  attack.  The  Q  would  be  better  posted 
somewhere  on  the  Q  side ;  but  Q — Q4  is  not  play- 
able, as  P — B4  would  now  force  the  exchange  of 
Queens. 

7.  K-Q  R-QR 

8.  R— B2  R— R7 

Black's  pieces  are  well  placed,  but  they  do  not 
threaten  anything. 

9.  P— Kt5  P— B4 

10.  KtxKtP  PQ4 

11.  K— P 

White  threatens  to  drive  the  Rook  away,  in 
order  to  bring  matters  speedily  to  a  climax. 

11 Q-Q6 

(11) ,  P~-B5  would  be  answered  by  (12) 

PXP,  (11) ,  Kt— Q6ch.  by  K— Kt ;    and 

the  resulting  exchanges  leave  White  always  in 
the  possession  of  his  advantage. 


12. 

QXQ 

KtxQch. 

13. 

K— Kt 

R— Kt7ch 

14. 

K— R 

RXP 

15. 

R— B3 

and  White  won  the  ending. 


102 


Black  . — Lasker. 


White. — Steinitz. 


This  diagram  shows  the  state  of  the  game  No. 
18,  at  move  33,  White  to  play,  of  my  match  with 
Mr.  vSteinitz  I  recommend  you  the  careful  study 
of  this  position,  in  which  White  can  keep  the  bal- 
ance only  by  a  very  ingenious  manoeuvre  of  de- 
fence. The  question  concerns  only  the  next  move  of 

White.     Black  threatens  (1) KtxPch;  (2) 

KtxKt,  BxKt:    (3)  QxB,  Q— K8ch.,  winning. 

How  is  White  to  save  his  game  ? 

If  (1)  R— B2,  RxR,-    (2)  BxR,  Q--B3 ;    (3) 


103 


K— Kt2,  KtxP  ;  (4)  KtxKt,  Kt—K4, will  regain 
the  piece  and  keep  the  Pawn  plus. 

If  (1)  R— K2,  R— B8  ;  (2)  B— B2,  Q— Q4  ;  (3) 
Kt— K3,  QxBP,  or  else  (3)  R— Q2,  KtxPch.; 
(4)  KtxKt,  QxKt;  (5)  QxQ,  BxQ  ;  (6)  Rx 
Kt,   RxB,   should   win.       (1)   Kt— K3   may  be 

answered  by  (1) R— B8  ;  (2)  R-Q,  Ktx 

Pch,;  (3)  KtxKt,  RxRch;  (4)  KtxR.  Q— Q4, 
again  remaining  a  Pawn  ahead,  with  at  least  an 
even  position. 

If  (1)  K— Kt2,  KtxP  ;  (2)  KtxKt,  Kt— K4  ; 
(3)  R— Q3,  R— B8  ;    (4)  R— QSch,  K— Kt2;   (5) 

Q — R7,  Q — B3,  will  yield  and  irresistible  attack 
to  the  second  player. 

The  move  actually  made,  and  the  only  one  to 
save  the  game  (which  ended  in  a  draw)  was  (1) 
K — B  !  against  which  Black  mu^t  play  very  cau- 
tiously not  to  be  at  a  disadvantage,  any  too  violent 
attack  will  fail. 

You  will  have  sometimes  to  look  very  deep  into 
the  position  to  find  a  good  move  for  the  defence. 
But  this  much,  I  believe,  I  can  promise  you,  that 
if  you  follow  the  rules  laid  down,  you  will  not 
search  in  vain.  If  you  will  seek  you  will  find,  no 
matter  how  dangerous  the  attack  may  look. 


Nos.  10,  11,  12 

Gentlemen, — When  both  parties  through  the 
struggles  of  the  middle  game  have  held  their  own, 
when  by  the  exertions  undergone  in  attack  and 
defence  the  material  forces  on  both  sides  have  be- 
come decimated,  and  direct  attacks  on  the  King 
have  consequently  lost  any  chance  of  success,  the 
game  enters  upon  a  new  stage,  difftring  in  many 
points  from  those  preceding  it.  Of  this  part  of 
the  game,  called  the  end  game,  it  is  a  character- 
istic that  the  King — hitherto  the  direct  or  indirect 
object  of  attack  on  the  part  your  opponent — over 
whose  safety  you  anxiously  watched,  and  whose 
power  was  limited  to  the  protection  of  a  few 
Pawns  needed  for  his  own  security,  now  becoii.es 
a  powerful  weapon  of  offence  and  aggression  in 
your  hands. 

When  the  game  enters  this  last  stage,  the  gen- 
eral rules  for  attack  and  defence  are  not  changed 
in  any  particular.  Weakenesses  will  principally  be 
represented  by  Pawns,  which  are  blocked,  or  can- 
not advance  for  some  other  reason,  and  which,  be- 
sides cannot  be  defended  by  other  Pawns.  Here 
again  the  attack  will  direct  itself  against  the  weak- 
nesses. Our  weak  points  will  be  such  as  are  open  to 
the  enemy's  men  or  King,  and  not  commanded  by 
any  of  our  own  men  nor  by  our  King  ;  our  oppo- 
nent's weak  points  will  be  directed  towards  those 
strong  points,  and  will  attempt  to  create  new  ones 
as  near  the  hostile  weaknesses  as  it  has  the  power 


105 


to  do.  Here  also  the  attacking  party  needs,  for 
success,  a  superiority  of  some  kind.  But  in  com- 
bination with  all  this,  two  new  factors  enter  into 
the  end  game,  which  give  it  its  peculiar  character. 

The  first  is  based  on  the  greater  facility  ac- 
quired (in  consequence  of  the  exhaustion  of  the 
material  forces)  to  lead  3^our  passed  Pawns  to 
Queen.  For  that  purpose  there  are  never  more 
than  five  separate  moves  required,  and  often  less. 
If  the  line  where  the  Pawn  advances  consists  en- 
tirely of  strong  points,  the  enemy  will  be  obliged 
to  engage  one  of  his  men,  perhaps  his  King, 
whose  function  it  will  be  to  command  one  of  these 
p:)ints  or  to  obstruct  that  line.  Points  and  lines 
through  which  the  hostile  men  prevent  the  ad- 
vance of  the  passed  Pawn,  may  be  called  poinls  of 
vantage  in  regard  to  it.  The  game  will  very  often 
then  present  a  fight  for  the  command  of  these 
points  or  lines  of  advance,  which  may  be  inter- 
cepted by  our  men,  or  from  which  the  hostile 
forces  may  be  driven  back.  On  the  other  hand, 
being  quite  satisfied  with  the  result  that  part  of 
the  hostile  army  is  engaged  in  watching  our 
passed  Pawn,  we  may  undertake  an  attack  with 
all  our  forces  in  some  other  quarter. 

When  attack  and  defence  in  the  very  latest 
stages  of  the  game  are  so  evenly  balanced,  and 
both  our  own  men  and  those  of  our  opponent  are 
so  favorably  placed,  that,  unless  the  adversary 
voluntarily  gives  way,  neither  party  can  improve 
his  position,  when,  in  other  words,  the  move 
ceases  to  be  a  privilege,  "time"   (the  right  to 


106 


move,  that  is  to  do  something  useful),  will  assume 
a  new  and  very  different  character.  In  such  posi- 
tions as  are  very  frequent  in  well  contested  games, 

Black. 


White. 

and  the  occurrence  of  which  can  often  with  cer- 
tainty be  forecalculated,  to  have  to  move  means 
often  a  loss  in  the  working  power  of  your  pieces, 
and  it  may  consequently  lose  you  the  game.  We 
shall  speak  of  this  as  the  principle  of  exhaustion 
(that  is,  exhaustion  of  moves  to  improve  your  posi- 
tion).    This  principle  will  manifest  itself  in  the 


107 


great  care  with  which  the  two  combatants  hold 
back  certain  moves,  which  either  would  improve 
their  position,  or  at  least  i  ot  affect  it  harmfully, 
until  a  favorable  opportunity  has  arrived  for  ex- 
ecuting them. 

The  principle  of  exhaustion  may  be  illustrated 
by  the  diagrams. 

White,  manoeuvring  on  the  KR  or  KKt  file, 
has  no  chance  to  force  the  win  ;  there  is  not  suffi- 
cient space  at  his  disposal.  For  instance,  after 
(1)  K— R3,  K— R3;  (2)  K— R4,  K— Kt3,  he 
would  have  to  recede ;  therefore  we  must  leave 
that  quarter  of  the  board  to  the  Black  King.  Our 
KRP  will  consequently  be  a  weakness,  and  it  will 
be  wise  to  hold  it  back  as  long  as  possible.  The 
best  position  for  the  Black  King  to  occupy  will  be 
Kt5.  Whenever  he  will  occupy  that,  our  King 
must  be  ready  to  march  to  K3  or  K5.  From  this 
we  deduce  the  following  line  of  play  : 

1.  K— R3  K— R3 

2.  K— Kt2  K— R4 

3.  K— Kt3  K— R3 
the  first  manifestation  of  the  principle. 

4.  K--B2  K— R4 

5.  K— K2 

Not  (5)  K— K3,  as  (5) ,   K— Kt5  would 

win  a  Pawn. 

5.  ..'....  K— R5 

6.  K— Q3  K— Kt5 

7.  K— K3  K— R6 

8.  K— Q4  KxP 

9.  K — K5  winning 


108 


Black. 


^^^'""'^ 


1//. 


V/////M,, ^^^A 


p^ mm 


^^. ^«^^- 


p^.^. ^^ ''''''''^^^'- 


m      ^m. 


W 


'm 


White. 

White  has  two  chances  of  winning,  the  one 
based  on  his  passed  Pawn,  the  other  on  the  weak- 
n..^ss  of  the  Black  RP.  The  Black  K  occupies  at 
present  a  position  of  advantage  in  regard  to  both. 
This  is  changed  by  the  follwing  manceuvre  : 


1. 

K— Q5 

K— B 

2. 

K-B4 

K-Q 

3. 

K— Q4 

K— B 

4. 

K— Q5 

K— B2 

5. 

K— B5 

109 
BI.ACK. 


1      WM^^ 


» 


%^ ^' 


"^^ 


^^^.^^rp 


■     .,^^ 

''mm-       ^ 


i 


^ '^^i i%mm. 


White. 

Now  the  move  is  changed,  and  White  wins  easily ; 
or 

4 K-Q 

5.  K— Q6  K— B 

6.  P— B7  K— Kt2 

7.  K— Q7 

and  mates  in  a  few  more  moves. 

An  ending  by  Mr.  Locock  (page  109). 
White   has   two   dangerous  attacks ;    the  one 
against  the  weak  Black  KKtP,  the  K  threatening 


110 


it  from  KB4  ;  the  object  of  the  other  is  to  advance 
his  P— K5,  supported  by  the  K  at  Q4.  There- 
fore, when  the  White  King  will  be  at  K3,  the 
Black  K  must  be  able  to  occupy  in  that  moment 
KKt4  ;  and  when  the  White  King  will  stand  on 
Q4,  the  Black  King  must  prevent  the  threatened 
advance  by  marching  to  KB3.  If  then  the  White 
King  is  at  Q3,  ready  to  go  in  one  move  to  either 
of  these  squares,  the  hostile  King  must  i-tar.d  on 
Kt3.  Thus,  the  different  squares  on  each  side 
correspond  to  each  other.  This  mode  of  reason- 
ing followed  up,  we  shall  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  White  with  the  move  draws,  Black  with  the 
move  loses. 


For  example,  if  Black  moves  first, 


1. 

K— R 

2. 

K- 

-Kt2 

K— Kt 

3. 

K- 

-Kt3 

K— R2 

4. 

K- 

-B2 

K— R3 

5. 

K- 

-Q2 

K— R4 

6. 

K- 

-B3 

K— Kt4 

7. 

K- 

-B4 

K— Kt3 

8. 

K- 

-Q3 

K— Kt4 

9. 

K- 

-K3  and 

wins ;    or 

8. 

K— B3 

9.  K— Q4                 K— Kt3 

10.  P— K5  PxPch. 

11.  KxP  K— B2 

12.  K — B5  winning 

Now  let  White  have  the  move. 

1.  K— B2  K— R2 

2.  K— Q2  K— R3 


112 


3. 

K— K2 

K— R4 

4. 

K— Q2 

K— R3 

5. 

K— B2 

K~R2 

6. 

K— B3 

K— Kt2 

7. 

K— B4 

K— B2 

8. 

K— Q4 

K— B3 

9. 

K— Q3 

K— Kt3 

0. 

K— K3 

K— Kt4,  etc 

One  of   the  gentlemen  present,  Mr.  McLaren, 
asked  for  the  explanation  of  following  position : 

Black. 


k mm. 


e    H    H^ ^^ 


V/,    ^^    w^^/> ^^^/A 


I 


Whitk. 


112 


This  position  depends  also  on  the  principle  of 
exhaustion.  Black's  points  of  advantage,  from 
where  he  attacks  the  White  Pawn,  are  three — K7, 
K6,  KB5.  The  most  forward,  and  therefore,  best 
of  these  is  K7.  Whenever  the  Black  King  is 
there,  the  White  King  must  be  ready  to  occupy 
KKt2  ;  and  whenever  the  Black  King  marches  to 
K6,  the  White  King  must  take  the  point  KKt3. 
The  game  will  run  therefore — 


1. 

K—R 

K— Q7 

2. 

K— R2 

K— Q6 

3. 

K— R3 

K— Q5 

4. 

K— Kt4 

K— K6 

5. 

K— Kt3 

K— K7 

6. 

K— Kt2 

K— Q8 

7. 

K—R  (or 

R3) 

and  draws 

An  attempt  to  force  one  of  the  passed  Pawns 
will  fail. 

1.  K—R  P— Kt5 

2.  K—Kt2,  and  draws 

Black  with  the  move  will  win. 

1 K— KB 

2.  K— Kt2  K— K7 

3.  K— Kt3  K— B8 

4.  K— R3  K— B7 

5.  K— Kt4  K— Kt7  winning 

The  following  positions  are  illustrative  of  the 
power  of  the  passed  Pawn  : 


113 
Black. 


mi 


'mm    ""''mm.     ^'^'wmA     \. 


% --^- 


m 


Wa _€si 


m 


Whitk. 

White  wins  by  a  clever  stroke,  in  which  all  the 
powers  of  the  Pawn  at  Kt7  are  made  use  of. 

1.  R— B8ch.  RxR 

2.  QxPch.  KxQ 

PxR,  becomes  a  Kt,  wins  the  Q  and 
the  game. 

The  above  is  more  of  a  mid  game  combination 
than  an  end  game  type  ;  but  even  backed  by  very 
little  force,  a  passed  Pawn  can  be  very  dangerous. 


114 

Black. 


m 


'mm      m 


- ^^#^« 


''^m^y 


- '^-mJ^-m 


L^ 


i  „™ 


^  pi 


White. 


1.  Kt— B3 

2.  Kt— K5 

3.  Kt— Kt4 

4.  Kt— B6 


B— Q 
K— R2 
K— R 


and  win,  as  Black  has  to  move  ;  if  (3) B — 

R6   (Kt4)  ;    (4)   Kt— B6ch.  would  obstruct  the 
Bishop  file  and  therefore  win. 


116 

BirACK. 


^  "^  mm, 

wsk 


J 'mm^A 


\m 


^m. 


'A  ,  y//////////, 

P    b 

i      mm. 


White 

1.  B— Q4  B— Kt6 

2.  B— R7  B— B5 

3.  B— Kt8  B— K6 

4.  B— B7  B— R7 

5.  B— Kt6 

and  wins  in  a  few  more  moves.  In  both  of  the 
latter  cases  the  King  of  the  winning  party  is  ex- 
ceedingly well  placed. 


116 

BI.ACK. 


1      m 


iSi      ■ 


m 'mm. 


^^^.^^r ^^ 


i      «^.. -mm. 


-« % — 


" iT«ii-lp-*i_ 

ill 


'mm.  ^  e^ 
i..^...™. in fc 


White:. 


The  difference  in  the  position  of  the  Kings  de- 
cides the  struggle. 

1.  K— Kt8  R— KtTch. 

2.  K— R8  R— B7 

3.  R— B6ch.  K— R4 

If  K— Kt4,  (4),  K— Kt8  would  speedily  win. 

4.  K— KtS  R—KtTch. 

5.  K— R7  R— B7 


117 


6. 

R— B5cli. 

K— R6 

7. 

K— Kt7 

R— Kt7ch 

8. 

K— R6 

R— B7 

9. 

R— B4ch. 

K— R6 

10. 

K— Kt6 

R— Kt7ch 

11. 

K— R5 

R— B7 

12. 

R— B3ch. 

K— R7 

13. 

RxP 

and  wins  by  Queen  against  Rook. 


Black. 


'm^/  ~  'm. 


^^^^^«^^;^^ 


m      'mm,      ■mm, 
wmi      mm. 


ISI^ ■ ■ 


J^  .,,^Mm^,^ ,  ;mm. 


m_ 


1^  _^^^^^«^^^«^ 


m 


w/M^     mm 


Q  mm.     ^>^^ 


^^ 


y-y^A 


Whits. 


118 


1 R— KtTch. 

2.  K— B  R— Kt5 

3.  P  becomes  a  Rook 

If  P  Queens  instead,  R — B5ch.,  sacrificing  it- 
self, would  force  the  stalemate. 

3 R— QR5 

4.  R— QR8  K— Kt5 

An  excellent  move.  White  threatened  P — R6 — 
R7,  and  then  a  check  with  his  Rook.  If  now  (5) 
P — R6,  K — B6,  threatening  Mate,  will  force  the 
draw,  for  instance  (6)  K— K,  K— K6  ;  (7)  K— 
Q,  K— Q6  ;  (8)  K— B,  K— B6  ;  (9)  K— Kt,  R— 
Kt5ch.  and  so  on 

5.  K— K2  K— B4 

6.  P— R6  K— B3 

not  K— K3,  as  (7)  P— R7,  K— Q2 ;  (8)  R— 
KR8  would  gain  the  Rook. 

7.  K— Q3 

The  decisive  manoeuvre.  The  King  comes  now  to 
the  support  of  the  Pawn,  in  order  to  liberate  the 
Rook,  while  Black  can  do  nothing  to  change  the 
po.-^ition  to  his  advantage.  The  square  QR7  is  left 
free  for  the  King,  to  allow  hitn  a  place  of  safety 
against  the  checks  of  the  Black  Rook. 


7. 
8. 

K- 
K- 

-Kt2 
-R2 

K- 

-B3 

9. 

K- 

-Kt3 

R- 

-R4 

10. 

K- 

-Kt4 

R- 

-R8 

11. 

K- 

-Kt5 

R- 

-Kt8ch. 

12. 

K- 

-B6 

R- 

-B8ch 

13. 

K- 

-Kt7 

R- 

-K18ch, 

14. 

K- 

--R7 

Without 

this 

place  of 

refuge 

the 

game 

would 

pever  be 

won. 

Now  it  i 

is  ^ 

v^ry  simple  matter. 

119 


14.  .  . K— Kt2 

15.  R— Kt8  R— QR8 

16.  R— Kl6  K— B2 

17.  K — Kt7  winning  easily 

Black. 


'm%m  _B.  'm 


V'^^-^^ 


B^ H...^...isl ™ 


mm.      ..W////M  ^     W////M 

If 


„- "^m^i^m 


m    wM 


'iMiW/         '^MW/, 


% '-^' 


*»-^ 


White. 

Here  White  wins  by  his  superior  K  position 
and  because  his  Pawns  are  further  advanced  than 
those  of  Black. 

1.     K— B4 
It  is  necessary  to  time  the  winning  manoeuvre  cor- 
rectly.   Therefore  we  must  not  at  once  march  to 
K4. 


120 


1 K— B 

2.  K— K4  P— B4 

3.  K— Q3  K— K 

4.  P— K7 

The  right  moment  for  the  advance.       Now  all 
Black's  movements  are  forced. 

4 K— Q2 

5.  K— B4  .   K— K 

6.  KxP  P— Q6 

7.  K— Q6  P— Q7 

8.  K— K6  P  Queens 

9.  P— BTcheckmate 

Black. 


m 


H    '''^' 


i       f^A 


m      'mm.  > 


WM     ■'^' 


m 


^'mmT^'mm. 


'^"m. ^. „:^^^ 

m      mm.      'mM. 


White. 


121 


1.  P— QR5  B— R3 

The  White  QRP  has  only  to  pass  one  more  Black 
Square,  and  that  within  two  moves;  therefore 
the  Bishop  must  hurry  to  stop  it. 

2.  P--Kt5ch.  BxP 

Now  the  Bishop  is  obstructed  by  his  own  King. 

3.  K— K4         B— R5 

4.  K— B3 
and  the  Pawn  will  Queen. 

When  the  end  game  stage  is  nearing,  the  pow- 
er of  the  various  pieces  is  altered  to  a  marked 
degree.  Different  issues  being  at  stake,  different 
measures  must  be  adopted,  and  ideas,  correct  in 
the  early  part  of  the  game,  become  sensibly  modi- 
fied. The  value  of  each  piece  varies  of  course 
\^  ith  each  end  game  position  in  a  greater  or  lesser 
degree ;  but  the  men  have  a  certain  average 
value,  which  will  serve  as  guide.  This  value  will 
be  determined 

(«)  By  their  fighting  capacity  against  the 

adverse  King  as  an  aggressive  piece, 

{b)  and  against  passed  Pawns, 

(^r)  and  finally  their  reach  or  power  of  offence, 

when  obstructions  (as  is  usual  in  end 

games)  are  few. 

Let  us  first  cons'der  the  King.       Being  placed 

in  opposition  to  the  adverse  King,  he  will  take 

three  squares  from  him,  and  can  thus  hinder  him 

fro.n  advancing.       He  can,   single-handed,  stop 

three  united  passed  Pawns,  not  advanced  beyond 

the  sixth  row  ;   and  two,  one  of  which  is  on  the 


122 


seventh  row.  He  can  attack  every  square  on  tl:e 
board,  and  that,  if  he  is  in  a  central  point,  for  in- 
stance at  K4,  in  no  more  than  three  moves. 

His  reach  is  totally  uninfluenced  by  obstruc- 
tions other  than  the  natural  limits  of  the  board. 
He  is  therefore  a  powerful  weapon,  if  well  devel- 
oped in  one  of  the  central  points  or  near  important 
points  ;  he  can,  however,  never  be  used  an  an  in- 
strument of  obstruction,  never  be  exposed  to  any 
direct  attack,  which  sensibly  diminishes  his  offen- 
sive value  against  strong  pieces  of  offence. 
Black.  — Morphy . 


White. — Harrwitz. 


123 

The  annexed  position  occured  in  one  of  Mor- 
phy's  match  games.     The  game  went  on : 

1 P— QR3 

2.  P— R4  Vxt 

3.  RPxP  R— R 

The  first  advantage,  an  unopposed  open  file  for 
the  Rook,  is  now  established, 

4.  Kt— Q2  R— R6 

5.  P— K4  PxP 

6.  KtxP  KtxKt 

7.  BxKt  R— QB6 

8.  B— B3 

threatening  now,  of  course,  R — K8ch. — QKt8. 

8 K~B2 

9.  R— K4  B— B 

10.  B— K2  B— B4 

11.  R— Q4  P— R4 

Through  this  last  move  the  important  point  at 
KB4  becomes  strong. 

12.  K— B2  K— B3 

13.  R— Q2  B— B7 

14.  K— K  B— K5 

15.  K— B2  K— B4 

The  White  King  is  kept  back  by  the  Black  Rook  ; 
the  Black  King,  however,  can  advance  unchecked. 

16.     R— R2  P— R5 

forcing  the  way  for  his  King,  which  will  soon  be- 
come a  dangerous  assailant. 


124 


17.     PxP 

KxP 

18.     R— R7 

R— KR6 

19.     RxP  . 

R— R7ch 

20.     K— K 

K— K6 

crushing  every  resistance. 

Black. — 

Steinitz. 

^^ uMyMAfi 


^--"-^^1 


White — Lasker. 

In  one  ':>i  my  match  games  with  Mr.  Steinitz 
the  above  position  occurred,  White  to  move. 
1.     K-RQ        P— K4 

If  K— Q2  at  once,  P— KB4  will  give  White  ^ 
good  game. 


125 


2. 

B— K3 

K-Q2 

3. 

B— B5 

R— R8 

4. 

KR— Q2 

K— K3 

5. 

B— R3 

P~Kt4 

6. 

R— Q5 

R— Kt3 

7. 

K— Kt4 

Now  the  King  actively  enters  into  the  fight. 

7 P— Kt5 

The  initiation  of  a  subtle  counter-attack  which 
nearly  succeeded  in  turning  the  tables. 

8.     K-R5  


It  might  have  been  wiser  first  to  accept  the 
offered  Pawn,  thus:  — (8)  PxP,  R— K8  ;  (9) 
K— R5,  B— Q;  (10)  RxP,  R— R3ch.;  (11)  K— 
Kl4.  RxPch.;  (12)  K— Kt3  remaining  a  Pawn 
ahead. 

8 R— R3ch. 

9.     KxP  P— R4 

(or  9) R— R8;    (10)  PxP,  R— K8  ;   (11) 

P— R3,  RxP;    (12)  P— B4. 


10. 

R-Q 

RxR 

11. 

RxR 

PxP 

12. 

PxP 

R— R 

13. 

K— Kt6 

R— KKt 

14. 

KxP 

R— Kt7 

15. 

P— R4 

R— R7 

16. 

K— B6 

129 


This  manoeuvre  makes  the  Black  game  unten- 
able. 

16 BxP 

17.  RxPch.  K— B2 

18.  K— Q5  B— B3 


If    (18)    R— Q7ch.;     (19)  KxP,  B-- 

Kt6ch.;  (20)  P— B4,  RxR;  (21)  BxR,  P— R5  ; 
(22)  B— B5,  P— R6  ;  (23)  B— Kt  and  the  four 
passed  PaAns  win  easily  against  the  Bishop. 

19.  R— Q7ch.  K~Kt3 

20.  K— K6 

to  check  the  advance  of  the  Black  King. 

If  now  (20) K— Kt4  ;    (21)  R— KET 

B— Q;     (22)  R— B8,  B~Kt3;     (23)  B— K7ch. 
K— Kt3;     (24)   R— KtSch.,  K— R2;     (25;  K— 
B7  followed   by  B— B6  would   draw  the  Black 
King  into  a  mating  net. 


20. 

P— R5 

21. 

r-q' 

P— R6 

22. 

R— Ktch. 

R— Kt7 

23. 

RxRch. 

PXR 

24. 

B— B5 

and  wins  after  a  few  more  moves  witb  Lis  passed 
Pawns. 


127 
Black. 


iii 
lii    Mi 


i 


M^^mm. 


m, 1 


Cy/zz/z/m 


m      'mm 


'mm      ^^ 

i? V/////yMi ^S 


m^  ^^_^  WMz,,^ 


White.  — Morphy 


Another  of  Morphy 's  energetic  end  game  at 
tacks. 


1. 

R— K8 

R— B 

2. 

K— B2 

P— Kt4 

3. 

K— K3 

P— Kt5 

4. 

K~Q3 

P— Kt4 

5. 

B— B6 

PxP 

6. 

PxP 

R— Kt 

7. 

K— B4: 

128 


The  Black   forces  being  all  engaged   by  t^r 
combined  action  of  the  White  Rook,  passed  Pawn 
and  Bishop,  the  co-operation  of  the  King  is  all 
that  is  necessary  to  decide  the  day. 


7. 

R— B 

8. 

K— Kt5 

R— Kt 

9. 

K— R6 

R-B 

10. 

K— Kt7 

R— Kt 

11. 

K— B8 

B— Kt3 

12. 

RxR 

KxR 

13. 

P  Queens 

BxQ 

14. 

KxB 

Resigns 

Examples  concerning  the  power  of  the  King 
could  be  readily  multiplied.  But  w^e  leave  this 
for  a  future  occasion,  the  King  as  an  assailant,  or 
as  strong  protective  power  being  an  essential  ele- 
ment, yea,  almost  an  organic  part  of  each  ap- 
proximately even  end  game. 

Another  piece  whose  power  increases  the  more 
the  end  game  stage  is  approaching  is  the  Rook. 
His  fighting  capacity  against  the  adverse  King  is 
enormous,  and  exactly  what  makes  him  a  valu- 
able instrument  for  attack  as  well  as  defence.  In 
conjunction  with  his  own  King  he  can  checkmate 
the  hostile  K  driven  to  the  edge  of  the  board, 
and  in  combination  with  a  Kt  and  P  and  a  single 
obstruction  he  can  give  checkmate  to  the  K  on 


129 


^ny  square  of  the  board  (example  Rook  at  B8, 
•Kt  at  Kt6,  P  at  B5;  opponent's  King  at  B7,  one 
of  his  Pawns  at  Kt7). 

Without  any  kind  of  support  he  can  give  un- 
told checks  to  the  adverse  King,  until  the  same 
is  obliged  to  approach  the  Rook,  perhaps  against 
the  best  interests  of  his  game,  or  forced  to  protect 
himself  behind  some  kind  of  obstruction.  On 
account  of  his  attacking  qualities,  he  is  always  a 
valuable  ally  when  you  want  to  force  any  obstruc- 
tions out  of  the  way,  for  instance,  of  passed 
Pawns;  but  he  is  less  fit  for  fighting  against 
them,  and  really  too  valuable  a  piece  to  be  given 
away  for  such  a  purpose,  if  other  alternatives  are 
open.  The  best  way  to  stop  an  adverse  passed 
Pawn  with  a  Rook  is  to  place  the  Rook  behind  it, 
as  his  reach  will  increase  the  more  the  Pawn 
advances.  He  can  stop,  and  even  win  (if  they 
are  unsupported)  two  passed  Pawns,  of  which 
one  is  on  the  sixth,  the  other  on  the  fifth  row ; 
but  two  passed  Pawns  on  the  sixth  row  will 
Queen  against  him,  if  united.  Used  against  ad- 
vanced Pawns  he  is  therefore  not  as  manageable 
as  the  King,  or  even  the  Bishop,  but  he  is  the 
more  dangerous  to  the  Pawns  before  they  assume 
a  threatening  attitude,  as  his  reach  is  very  great, 
and  exactly  calculated  to  serve  against  Pawns  in 
their  strongest  position  —  that  is,  when  they  are 
abreast.  He  can  attack,  if  unobstructed,  any 
square  of  the  board  in  one  move,  and  will  com- 


180 


mand  thirteen  at  a  time.  This  enables  him  to 
restrict  the  opposite  King  to  a  portion  of  the 
board. 

This  Bishop  is  very  much  less  fit  for  assault 
against  the  King,  or  for  restricting  his  approach, 
than  the  Rook.  The  Bishop  can  take  away  two 
squares  from  the  King,  and  eventually  give  check 
and  command  two  squares  of  the  reach  of  the 
King.  His  capacity  for  yielding  support  to 
passed  Pawns  is  not  very  great,  as  the  line  in 
which  the  Pawn  advances  will  usually  contain 
some  points  where  obstructions  are  totally  safe 
against  him.  His  great  value  consists  in  two 
things.  (1)  That  he  can  stop  adverse  Pawns  from 
a  long  distance  and  from  a  number  of  squares.  (  2  ) 
That  a  Pawn  and  a  Bishop  may  protect  each  other, 
so  as  to  make  both  of  them  comparatively  safe 
against  the  King  or  superior  pieces.  His  chess- 
board, however,  contains  only  thirty-two  squares, 
and  whichever  influence  they  may  have  on  the 
issue  of  the  game,  very  much  determines  his 
share  in  it ;  so  that  his  importance  may  be  ex- 
aggerated when  you  have  the  superiority  of 
position,  or  almost  annihilated  when  the  opposite 
is  the  case. 

The  Knight  is,  unless  circumstances  are  very 
favorable,  the  weakest  piece  of  all.  He  may 
take  two  squares  from  the  King,  or  give  check, 
and  besides  take  away  one  square  from  him; 


181 

but  the  adverse  King  may  approach  him  then, 
and  get  rid  of  him  if  no  more  support  is  near. 
His  great  power  is  that  he  cannot  be  obstructed. 
When  obstructions  abound,  and  when  he  can 
occupy  a  strong  point  near  the  enemy's  line,  he 
can  be  an  invaluable  ally.  His  reach  never  ex- 
ceeds eight  points,  situated  in  a  circle,  and  he 
may  be  obliged  to  take  five  moves  to  cross  the 
board  from  one  point  to  another  (for  instance, 
the  two  diagonally  opposite  corner  points).  On 
an  extended  field  of  battle  he  must  therefore 
choose  the  wing  to  which  he  will  give  his  sup- 
port, or  very  much  lose  in  value. 

To  refer  to  the  oft  mooted  question,  ' '  Which 
piece  is  stronger,  the  Bishop  or  the  Knight?" 
it  is  clear  that  the  value  of  the  Bishop  undergoes 
greater  changes  than  that  of  the  Knight.  If 
experience  has  shown,  that,  on  an  average,  dur- 
ing the  opening  or  middle  game,  the  Bishop  will 
be  at  least  as  strong  as  the  Knight,  this  will  be 
the  more  true  the  more  obstructions  disappear, 
that  is  in  endings  with  only  a  few  Pawns  scat- 
tered about  the  board.  In  complicated  end  game 
positions,  where  Pawns  partly  form  blocks,  the 
Knight  will  find  his  best  chance.  The  value  of 
two  Bishops  varies,  of  course,  as  they  dominate 
the  whole  chessboard,  very  much  less  than  that 
of  one ;  in  consequence,  two  Bishops  are  as  a 
rule  appreciably  stronger  than  two  Kts  or  a 
Bishop  and  a  Kt. 


132 

Black. 


i. 


m       y//WM 

^p      ^p      pp  i 
^  i  ■ ■, ■ 


fiij 


.„„4,iM 


pri 


13       ■      W  fi  ^' 


i 


y/z/z/M, 

I 

P I 


Whits. 


From  a  correspondence  game. 


1.  Kt— K4 

2.  P— QR3 


P— QKt4 
Now  all  the  Black  squares  on  the  Q  side  are  in 


133 


possession  of  White  ;  nor  can  this  be  changed,  as 
ihe  Black  King  is  necessary  on  the  K  side  to  fight 
against  the  White  Pawns. 


2. 

B- 

K- 

-Kt3 

3. 

P- 

-B3 

-B2 

4. 

K- 

-B2 

K- 

-K3 

5. 

K- 

-K3 

P- 

-R3 

6. 

P- 

-KKt4 

K- 

-Q4 

7. 

Kt- 

-B3ch. 

K- 

~Q3 

8. 

P- 

-B4 

B- 

-K 

It  would  have  been  more  advisable  to  keep  the 
Bishop  in  the  rear  of  the  advancing  Pawns. 

9.     P— B5  B— Q2 

10.  Kt— K4ch.  K— K2 

If  (10) K~Q4  ;    (11)  P— B6  will  force 

the  exchange  of  Kt  v.  B.  and  the  extra  Pawn  will 
easily  win. 

11.  K— B4  B— K 

12.  K— K5  B— B2 

13.  P— KR4  B— Q4 

14.  P— Kt5  PxP 
16.  PxP  B— Kt 
16.  P— Kt6  Resigns 

as  P — B6  will  soon  prove  decisive, 


184 

BlvACK. 


m. 


i 


^      »      ■.     ii 


'^^^A^^^^^^^^p^/A,^„^,^^^^. ../^/^///^ ^////////// 

S#         ^Mtl         ^^  /^h.  ^^ 

yyZ^'/T/  /Sm^£iik'^  w7.^////    .Sftk    ^///y////'^o'. 

im    m ill^ 


''''mm''''t\M 


I.,JM„„,„MA« 


W////M,. 


mkm 


^IM 


'■m'y^m 


'mm^. 


^^^^V-^-^-^"^ 


i ^^a 


White. 
From  another  game  by  correspondence 


Black  to  move. 
1.     .. 


P— QB4 


Strong,  and  embarrassing  to  White.  The 
Pawn  engages  the  QP,  which  is  the  only  White 
])iece  that  commands  the  point  K5.  It  can  there- 
fore not  take  the  hostile  Pawn,  as  after  (2)  Px 
Pch.,   PxP,  White  has  no  means  to  stop  the 


135 


check  at  K4,  which  would  soon  prove  fatal  to 
him. 

2.  R— R7 

unsatisfactory  enough  ;  but  the  Kt  cannot  move 
to  any  square  improving  his  position,  and  with- 
out exposing  the  White  Pawns  to  the  attack  of 
the  Rook. 

2 PXP 

3.  PxP  Kt— B5ch. 

4.  K— B3  Kt— K3 

Now  White  can  do  nothing  effectual.  If  the  Rook 
moves,  Black  will  win  the  QP. 

5.  K— Q3  P— QR4 

6.  K— K3  R— Kt8 

This  manoeuvre  with  the  Rook  is  splendid.  He 
threatens  now  R — QB8— B6ch.  winning  the  QP. 
White  cannot  frustrate  that  plan,  e,g,,  (7)  K — 
Q3,  R— QB8;  (8)  P— R4,  Kt— B5ch.;  (9)  K— 
K3,  P— KKt4  (10)  K— B2,  R— Q8,  etc. 


7. 

R— R8 

R— QB8 

8. 

R— QKt8 

R— B6ch. 

9. 

K— B2 

KtxP 

10. 

RxPch. 

K— K4 

11. 

R— Kt7 

K— B5 

If  now  (12)   RxP,  R— B7  ;    (13)  K— K,  K— 
K6  ;   (14)  R— K7ch  ,  K— Q6  ;   (15)  Kt— B,  Ktx 
Pch.;   (16)  K — Q,  P— Q5,  and  White  has  no  sat 
isfactory  move  left. 

12.     P— Kt5  H— K6 


136 


and  White  resigns,  for  after  (13)  PxP,  PxP; 
(14)  R— KB7,  P— B4,  his  position  becomes  alto- 
gether untenable. 

The  following  position  occurred  in  a  match 
game  at  Hastings,  1895,  between  Messrs  Schlech- 
ter  and  Tchigorin. 

Black. 


W////////-   ^     y////M'/.         v/, 


1^1 
1: 


mm. 


Wa      'mm,      m 


P 

P 


^iil 


m   m^ 


«,„5„..fSi'"^,iHi  ^'mM. 


t^im  fi  »i 


W4 


m  ■«■  a 


111  ■ 


^ 
^P^ 


White. 


It  was  White's  turn  to  move,  and  the  game 
went  on. 

I.     P— QKt4 


137 

A  Pawn  move  without  a  clearly  defined  pur- 
pose is  to  be  blamed.  The  P  at  Kt4  takes  away 
a  good  square  from  the  Kt,  which  that  piece 
ought  to  have  occupied  at  once  in  order  to 
threaten  Kt — Q5,  and  to  force  the  advance  P — 
QB3,  which  would  greatly  increase  the  strength 
of  the  B.  Moreover,  it  leaves  a  strong  point  at 
QB5  to  the  Black  Kts,  which  White  can  only 
guard  by  another  advance  of  a  Pawn. 

1 R(Q)— KKt 

2.  R— KKt 

He  ought  not  to  leave  the  important  Q  file  with 
his  Rook.  All  defensive  purposes  could  be  served 
just  as  well  by  (2)  P — KR3,  which  would  enable 

him  to  reply  to  (2) P— Kt5  with  (3)  BPx 

P,  PxP,   (4)  P— R4  and  to  (2) P— R5 

with  P— Kt4. 

2 P— Kt5 

3.  P— KB4  Kt— Q 

4.  P— B5  Kt— B2 

5.  Kt— B2  Kt— Q3 

6.  B— B5  Kt— Kt3 

Not  (6) KtxB,  as  (7)  PxKt,  Kt  moves 

(8)  P— B6  would  follow. 

7.  Kt-Q 

Now  decidedly  R — Q  was  at  the  right  place, 

when,  for  instance,  (7) R — Q ;    (8)  Rx 

Kt,  RxR ;  (9)  R— Q  would  lead  to  a  probable 
draw. 

7 Kt— B 

8.  Kt— K3  K— B2 
Nqw  the  KP  has  become  indefensible. 


9. 

Kt— Q5 

P— B3 

10. 

Kt— B7 

KtxKP 

11. 

QR-Q 

KtxB 

12. 

PxKt 

R-Q 

13. 

Kt— K6 

RxR 

14. 

RxR 

K— K2 

15. 

P— R4 

In  thus  opening  up  files  for  the  Black  Rook  he 
plays  Black's  game,  (15)  P — B4  is  by  far  prefer- 
able.      Neither  the  Black  Kt  nor  the  R  will  tl:en 

ever  be  able  to  obtain  good  positions.    (15) 

P — R5  could  then,  for  instance,  be  answered  bv 
(16)  PxP;  RxP;  (17)  R— Q8,  Kt— R2  ;  (18) 
R — QR8  winning  the  piece. 


15. 

PxPe.  p. 

16 

R— KR 

K— B2 

17. 

RxP 

Kt— K2 

18. 

P— KKt4 

P— R5 

19. 

P— B4 

Kt— Kt3 

ittle 

move  which  threatens  Kt— 

20. 

PxKtch. 

KxKt 

21, 

P— Kt7 

R— KKt 

22. 

RxP 

RxP 

23. 

K— K3 

K— B2 

It  remains  to  force  the  exchange  of  the  last  P 
on  the  K  side,  in  order  to  have  there  all  lines  free, 
and  a  clear  superiority. 

24.     P— Kt4        K— Kt3 

If  the  plausible  (24) K— Kt  instead, 

then  (25)  K— K4,  R— R2  ;     (26)  RxR,  KxR ; 


139 


(27)  K— B5,   K— Kt2;     (28)  P— KKt5,  PxP; 

(29)  KxKtP,  drawing  without  difficulty. 

25.  R— R8  P— B5 

26.  PxPch.  KxP 

27.  R— R5ch 

(27)  R— BSch.  would  find  its  reply  in  K— K3  ; 

(28)  R— K8ch.,  K— Q2  ;    (29)  RxP,  R— Kt6ch. ; 

(30)  K  moves,  R— QKt6  when  Black  will  remain 
with  a  winning  advantage. 


27. 

K— K3 

28. 

R— R6ch. 

K— Q2 

29. 

P— Kt5 

RPXP 

30. 

PxP 

PxP 

31. 

K— K4 

R— K2 

32. 

R— QKt6 

K— B2 

33. 

RxP 

K— B3 

34. 

R— R5 

R— K 

This  manoeuvre  with  the  Rook,  which  wins  a 
move,  decides  the  game.  The  White  King  dare 
not  move,  as  otherwise  the  Black  KP  advances 
still  further  :   so  all  White's  moves  are  forced. 


35. 

R- 

-R7 

R- 

-K3 

36. 

R- 

-R5 

R- 

-K2 

37. 

R- 

-R 

KxP 

38. 

R- 

-Brh. 

K- 

-Q3 

39. 

R- 

-Qch. 

K- 

-B3 

40. 

R- 

-Bch. 

K- 

-02 

41. 

R- 

-B5 

K— Q3 

42. 

R- 

-B2 

P- 

-QKt4 

43. 

R- 

-QKt2 

K- 

-B4 

and  White  resigned  the  struggl 

e  which  Black  had 

masterfully  conducted. 

Thk  End, 

r  *'^ 


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